Percy Jackson and the Shrine of Nyx
by abSoLUte234bBq
Summary: The Primordials are raging war against Olympus. But the odds are not in Olympus's favor, as their greatest hero, Percy Jackson is missing. Just what has happened to Percy? Will they be able to rescue him in time to win the war? And what does Nyx have in store for Olympus? And there is a traitor among them... Will Olympus be able to win the war, or will they fall? All canon pairings
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : This is my very first fanfiction, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes that might be present. Please let me know what you think . Constructive criticism is very much appreciated.**

 **Disclaimer : I obviously do not own Percy Jackson, because if I did , I would not be here writing fanfictions about it.**

Chapter 1

After the giant war ended, many things changed. Change was inevitable in the lives of demigods but there were big changes which affected everyone. The first change was the mysterious disappearance of the Savior of Olympus, Percy Jackson. His disappearance came off a particularly hard blow to everyone, especially since it was it second time it happened. Many search parties were led but none of them could find any clues to the whereabouts of Percy Jackson.

The next great change came around three years later: another war took place. This war was against the Primordials. The Primordials, led by Erebus and Tartarus, were on a completely different level from any enemy Olympus had faced before. The war kept raging on for two years with neither parties willing to lose but it was obvious that the odds were not in Olympus's favor. Nearly half of their forces had been wiped out while others were severely injured. The gods wee bound by the ancient laws to not directly interfere. And worst of all, they did not have their hero Percy Jackson to save them this time.

* * *

Annabeth Chase sat down on the sandy beach and inhaled the fresh air. The salty scent of the sea breeze reminded her of her missing boyfriend, Percy Jackson. It calmed her down but not much. Her mortal parents and half-brothers had been killed by the Primordials and she had to lead camp half-blood all by herself. Needless to say, she was extremely stressed.

Annabeth sighed and twirled her hair around a finger. At times like these, she really wished her boyfriend Percy Jackson was present. He would have managed to cheer her up in some way. He would have figured out how to defeat the Primordials. He would have made some crazy on-the-spot plan and actually made it work. But the thing was, Percy Jackson was not here.

Annabeth tried to think of what Percy might have done in this situation, but whenever she thought about Percy, her heart twisted and she was overwhelmed with sadness. _Stop it Annabeth, don't let your emotions get in the way of logical thinking,_ Annabeth thought, _think, should I do? Oh gods, Percy , why did you leave me? I miss you. Why aren't you here?_ Annabeth tried to think of some useful strategies but her thoughts kept returning to Percy _._

Annabeth was shaken out of her stupor when she heard a distant scream. Immediately, she got to her feet and started running towards the location of the scream, drakon bone in one hand and her invisibility cap in another. She reached camp borders and her stomach twisted at the sight before her.

There was Nico, his one arm bloodied while his other arm shakily held his stygian iron sword. Standing in front of him was one of the most grotesque creatures Annabeth had ever seen. It was sort of reptilian and it had spikes protruding from its back. Its blood red eyes were filled with an animalistic hunger. Annabeth could practically feel the killing intent radiating from it.

Annabeth was just about to attack the monster but before she could do any thing, the monster lunged at the completely defenseless Nico.

* * *

 ** _IN OLYMPUS ,_**

Hestia rubbed her forehead. She could feel a headache coming up. Seriously, how could the Olympians possibly be bickering about meaningless things when matters were so serious? She could not believe their stupidity. Sure, she understood than the needed some humor from time to time in order to keep going but there should be a limit to their stupidity. Honestly, how could someone be arguing about cereals and which disasters were better when the world was was potentially in danger of extinction?

Hestia was just about to reprimand the Olympians when a cols , hopeless feeling washed over her. For a moment, she was full of despair. _There is no hope,_ a voice seemed to say in her mind, _no hope._ then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the feeling disappeared. From the corner of her eye, Hestia caught a glimpse of aa cloaked figure. But when she blinked, the figure was gone, leaving her wondering,

 _What was that?_

 **A/N: There's nothing to say , really. R &R, F&F. Next chapter will be updated soon. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm back! With the second chapter! Without further ado, let us get to the story. Enjoy.**

Chapter 2

 _ **Unknown Location,**_

The Primordial goddess of the night, Nyx, was usually n a foul mood. Most of the time, she was loud and obnoxious, and she put everyone else in a foul mood too. However, today was different. Today, Nyx could actually be seen smiling. Those who could see her smile could not decide what was worse: her smile or her glare. It was plain unnerving to everyone.

But the figure standing in front of her was far from unnerved, though. If anything, he looked irritated.

"Could you please stop smiling? It's really creepy, you know?"

Nyx felt slightly irritated but she had to admire his courage. Most people would never dare to speak to her. Then again, nothing less was to be expected from the person standing in front of her. It was, after all, it was Percy Jackson, the Hero of Olympus. Even after having lived with him ( correction: kept him captive ) for five years, Percy Jackson never ceased to amaze her.

Nyx had to admit, Percy Jackson was a sight to behold. It was not only his looks that made him so fascinating but also the air of confidence with which he carried himself. It was just so captivating. If Nyx had not been married to Erebus already, and if they had not been in opposing sides, she might have considered him as a potential husband.

Right now, though, he was just a pawn in her game. The only reason she was even keeping him alive was because she needed him. After all, he was supposed to be a sacrifice needed for Nyx to accomplish her goal. There were to be a few more sacrifices but Percy Jackson was the most important one.

"You're mad, you know that? Absolutely sick. I don't get what you can gain from doing all this," said Percy.

Nyx laughed. "That's because, no matter how great you are, you are still just a puny human."

Percy scoffed and turned away, making Nyx laugh once more. Percy Jackson might be an insolent demigod but he was amusing nonetheless. It pained her slightly to know that he would have to die soon. Key word: slightly.

"Just sleep for now," said Nyx as she stroked Percy's head once. Immediately, Percy dropped to the ground, fast asleep.

* * *

 _ **Camp Half-Blood,**_

Nico was panting heavily. He barely had any strength left to fight the monster before him. From the corner of his eye, Nico registered a blonde girl standing a few feet away. Nico was feeling absolutely hopeless. But when the monster charged towards him, an animalistic survival instinct kicked in and he managed to summon enough strength to roll out of the way in the last second.

The monster charged once again. This time, Nico had absolutely no strength left to dodge. He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact but it never came. Opening his eyes, Nico saw the blonde girl, which turned out to be Annabeth, standing in front of him,trying to hold off the monster with her drakon bone sword.

"Nico! Can you stand up?" Annabeth asked as she deflated another blow from the monster. Her eyes seemed to be slightly unfocused, indicating that she was trying to think of a plan. Using the last bit of his strength, Nico hauled himself up.

"Go inside and get yourself healed! I'll hold it off," said Annabeth. She sounded more confident now. She had probably thought of a plan to kill the monster.

As much as Nico hated running away, he knew he had to do it. The way he was now, he would just be a burden to Annabeth. Nico gritted his teeth. Clutching his bloodied arm, he dashed towards the infirmary.

* * *

After Annabeth had made sure that Nico was out of the way, she turned her full attention to the monster. It was time to put her plan into action. She was not 100% sure if it would work but she had to try. While fighting, Annabeth had figured out where the monster's weak spot was. She just needed to get close enough to hit its blind spot.

Annabeth took out her cap of invisibility and put it on her head. Instantly, she disappeared from the monster's view. The monster looked around, confused. Annabeth took this opportunity to strike. She dropped low and swiped the monster under its feet. It fell to the ground with a loud thud. Immediately, Annabeth was on top of it, still invisible. Expertly handling her drakon bone sword, she thrust it straight into the monster's neck. It let out a blood-curling scream before dissipating into golden dust.

Annabeth took off her cap and fell back. She let out a sigh of relief. Picking herself up, Annabeth made her way to the infirmary. All the while, only one thought was going through her mind.

 _What was that monster?_

 **A/N: So, that's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be coming soon, maybe even today! R &R, F&F.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's chapter 3. Hope you enjoy.**

 **P.S :This is probably my favorite chapter ;)**

Chapter 3

 _ **Depths of Tartarus,**_

Erebus took a sip of coffee. The coffee left a bitter taste in his mouth. He could not understand how his brother Tartarus could possibly like it so much. There was so little he could understand of his brother, and his family in general. Most of all his wife.

Tartarus was smiling smugly in front of him. He seemed to take pleasure in seeing Erebus cringe at the taste of coffee. Erebus wanted to wipe that smug smirk off his face as painfully as possible. But of course, he could not do that. After all, they were brothers and Nyx would probably kill him for being _impolite._ It was mostly the latter for which Erebus had not yet started a fight with Tartarus. He did not really care much for their alliance.

"So, brother, what do you think?" Tartarus's smile was deceptively nice. It made Erebus wonder exactly what he was referring to: the war or the coffee.

 _Like shit,_ thought Erebus, _both of them. The war because I have to work with you and the coffee 'cause it's your favorite._

But of course, he did not voice it out loud. Instead, he smiled and told Tartarus that he thought it was wonderful.

 _Ah, wonderful indeed. It would certainly be wonderful,_ thought Erebus, _when I stab you in the back and take Olympus for myself._

* * *

 _ **The Underworld,  
**_

Hades sighed for the umpteenth time.

Ever since the war with the Primordials had started, his paperwork had increased tenfold. His mood was also ten times worse. He gave the Furies much more work than usual and strengthened the Underworld's securities by ten times too. The souls in Elysium thought that Hades was being too paranoid. If they knew just how bad the war was, the would have known that Hades was actually being quite _calm._ At least, compared to some other gods.( cough, Zeus, cough )

As soon as Alecto, one of his Furies, appeared before him, he knew that something was wrong. For one,her face looked graver than ever. For another, she looked _excited._ Alecto never looked excited for anything. If she was excited, the news could not have been good.

"My Lord, I have some very important news," said Alecto. She looked like she was fighting to keep herself from smirking. Furies did not smirk. Not all the time anyway. They only smirked when Percy Jackson was potentially at the jaws of death. And Percy Jackson had been missing for five years.

"What is it?" asked Hades, already fearing the answer.

"Our defenses are getting weaker. We can no longer restrain some of the more powerful occupants of the Underworld. Thanatos has gone missing in action, again. We have no idea of his location."

Hades had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"But that is not all. I also bring some good news." Alecto was smirking now.

Hades raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to continue.

"I believe we have found the location of Percy Jackson, My Lord."

For a while, Hades was too stunned to speak. But after the initial shock passed, Hades found himself mirroring Alecto's smirk. Maybe there was some hope for Olympus after all.

* * *

 ** _Unknown Location,_**

Somewhere in the world, Percy Jackson shivered in his sleep. Although he was asleep, a part of his conscious was fully awake. And he could tell that things were about to go wrong. Very, very wrong.

Nyx was playing chess, and she was winning it. And Olympus did not know about it. And what they did not know could hurt them. It really was too bad that Percy, the only one who knew, was really bad at chess.

But it was also too bad for Nyx, as her chess set was made entirely of pawns. And they could only get you so far.

If only Percy knew he was a pawn too. A pawn that could cross the entire board in one move. But the point was, he did not know. And what he did not know could very well come to stab him in the back later on.

But, as mentioned before, Percy had never been good at chess. If Nyx was planning on having him cross the entire bridge in one go, she would have to go through a lot of trouble.

 _If_ she could get him to move in the first place.

 **And cut! What did you think? Oh boy, I did not think I would be able to finish 3 chapters in one day but what do you know! I actually did it. Please leave a comment or review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**'Sup, people? I just want to thank those who took their time to review this. Every review is precious and very much appreciated! I don't think I need to do the disclaimer 'cause I did it in the first chapter already. Anyways, enjoy!**

 **P.S: My user name's changed. Don't freak out!**

Chapter 4

 _ **Camp Half-Blood**_

Annabeth was about to go to the infirmary but changed her direction halfway through. She decided to go to the Big House and consult Chiron first. On her way, she was joined by Jason, Piper and Leo who had just heard about the peculiar monster from Nico.

When they reached the Big House, Chiron seemed to be having a very serious conversation with Mr D. Even Mr D looked very serious, so the topic could not have been good.

Annabeth cleared her throat, making Chiron and Mr D stop talking and turn their attention to the demigods. The four of them took a seat and Annabeth addressed Chiron.

"Chiron," she said, getting straight to the point,"I just fought a monster that I have never seen or heard of before. It was almost ridiculously strong for a monster. Thankfully, it wasn't very intelligent."

Chiron looked thoughtful. "Can you tell me what it looked like? I might be able to tell what it is from its description."

Annabeth nodded and started describing the monster's appearance. As she went on, creases appeared between Chiron's eyebrows and the faces of Jason, Piper and Leo became paler. When she finished, Chiron's face was grave and he seemed immersed in his thoughts.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity but was actually a few seconds, Chiron spoke,"I must say, I have never heard of any monsters like that before. Mr D, have you?"

"No," said Mr D. But there was something about his posture that said that he knew more than he was letting on. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him but did not ask. Mr D would probably turn her into a dolphin or something if she accused him.

Annabeth turned her attention towards Chiron. "What should we do now?"

Chiron's eyebrows were still knitted together. "We have not decided anything yet. I shall look up this monster. If I find anything I would be sure to inform you. Until we have further information, you are to keep quite about this topic to the younger campers."

Annabeth nodded. She was not entirely satisfied but she decided not to pursue the subject any further. She and the others got up and left the Big House.

* * *

As soon as the four demigods left the Big House(and were well out of hearing range), Mr D turned to Chiron.

"Why didn't you tell them about Athena's plan? That Anniebelle girl's pretty strong. She could handle it."

Chiron shook his head. "She might have handled it but she would not have agreed to it."

"Really? But isn't it a good plan? I thought Athena kids were all about plans."

"Perhaps. But there's a spy at camp."

It took some time for Mr D to process this information. This sort of serious stuff was really not his cup of wine, or in this century, diet coke. He also could not understand why Chiron was telling this right now.

After a _long_ time, something finally seemed to click in his mind.

"Oh, you mean we don't know who it is?"

Chiron face palmed.

"Mr D, is that all you could think about?"

Dionysus thought about this. Finally, he said,"We don't know who might be listening?"

"What I'm saying, is that the traitor is definitely among those for.

 **Oohh! A cliffhanger! I wonder who the spy is? Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out. Bwhahahaha! Any ways, don't forget to leave a review. R &R,F&F.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter 5. Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

 _ **Unknown Location**_

When Percy woke up, he felt like he had just been hit by a brick. Groggily, Percy opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of Nyx, who was giggling like a schoolgirl in front of her crush, holding a brick in her hands.

 _Wow,_ thought Percy, _I really was hit by a brick. Isn't that supposed to be Jason's thing?_

At the thought of Jason, Percy's spirits immediately dampened. He thought of all his friends back at the two camps. He missed them terribly. Especially his girlfriend, Annabeth. Oh, what he wouldn't give to see her once again. He wondered what she had thought about his disappearance. He wondered whether she still loved him. Percy felt immensely guilty. After all, he _had_ promised to never disappear on her again.

"So you finally woke up, sleepyhead," said Nyx.

Percy looked at her weirdly. "Weren't you the one who put me to sleep?"

"Hmm, that's true," said Nyx,"But I only put you to sleep for a few hours. You've been sleeping for like, twenty four hours?"

Percy's eyes widened. Had he really been sleeping for that long? It certainly did not feel like it. But if it was...

 _The sedative might be working,_ thought Percy, _And Nyx isn't aware of it yet. If I can keep this up for about a week, I should be able to contact someone from outside. Maybe even get out of here._

"Hey Percy, are you listening?" Nyx asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Oh yeah, what were you saying?"

Nyx gave him a suspicious look. Then she blew it off and grinned gleefully. It was not a pretty sight.

"I said that the final parts of my plan are finally ready. I've arranged all the pieces. All that's left is to bring them together."

A sick feeling settled in Percy's stomach. He only knew bits and pieces of Nyx's plan but just those were enough to give him nightmares. No, he could not let Nyx succeed in carrying out her plan. He had to find a way to sabotage it. But in his current state, that would be impossible. He would have to contact the outside world. And soon. Very, very soon.

 _What I'm taking right now will take at least another week to take effect. I can't afford to take that much time. I'm gonna have to upgrade it. Right now. But first things first. I have to give Nyx an excuse to go to my room._

"Hey, Nyx? Can I go to my room?" asked Percy.

Nyx looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you wanna go to your room, Percy? Aren't you gonna celebrate with me? I can finally put my plan into action!"

"Er, you see, I'm not really feeling well. I have a stomach ache. I think I'm gonna puke."

Nyx wrinkled her nose. "Fine, fine. Go to your room. Don't puke in here."

"Wouldn't even think about it," Percy drawled. Inwardly, he was grinning. Puke really was a magical word. It worked every time.

Percy rushed towards his room. Well, the term 'room' is only being used here because of the lack of a more appropriate word. It was hardly a room. But that was beside the point. The point was, there was a lab in his room. Sure, it might be the lab where Nyx made him carry out all of her experiments, but it was very essential to his plan. It was the place where Percy prepared his drug. The drug that was his key to the outside world.

Perhaps the matter should be explained in detail.

Some time after his capture, Nyx had worked some powerful magic on Percy which somehow disconnected him from the rest of the world. According to Nyx, Percy was currently in a somewhat dreamlike state. Present yet not present at the same time. Percy did not understand the whole concept and trying to understand it fully gave him headaches, but he understood enough to know that he had no way of communicating with anyone outside of Nyx's realm. But recently, Percy figured out one thing. As he was 'dreaming' or 'asleep' in the real world when he was present in Nyx's realm, it was possible for him to be awake in the actual world if he was asleep in the realm of Nyx. And so, Percy had designed some magic drugs which would put him to sleep in Nyx's realm and let him wake up in Morpheus's realm instead.

You might ask why Percy would need drugs to fall asleep. This was because as Percy was already in a dreamlike manner, it was technically impossible for him to fall asleep naturally unless Nyx was the one who put him to sleep. You might also be wondering how _Percy Jackson_ could ever manage to make drugs. Obviously, this was not based on his own knowledge. It was based on what he had heard about sleeping pills from Annabeth a long time ago. Annabeth was so far away, yet her information was still helping him.

Percy was filled with newfound determination at the thought of meeting Annabeth again. He looked at all the materials he had in the lab. A little more would have been ideal but Percy decided to make do with what he had. He would have to make the sedative powerful enough to pull him completely out of Nyx's realm and deposit him in Morpheus's realm instead. Once there, Percy would have to contact someone in their dream to let them know of Nyx's plan and initiate a rescue for himself. There were a few plot holes in his plan but it would have to do for now. To be honest, Percy's head hurt a bit. This was the most elaborate planning he had ever done.

 _Just you wait, Annabeth. I'm coming. It's a promise. I swear on the River Styx, Wise Girl, I'll be back before you know it._

 **And cut! This is the longest chapter I have written so far. I hope it was up to standard. If there is something you don't understand, feel free to ask me. I will try my best to explain. Also, we are finally getting to the more important events in the story. We are still a long way from the climax, though. If you wanna know what that is, then you'll have to stick to the story! R &R, F&F.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter 6! Hope you'll like it.**

Chapter 6

 _ **The Underworld**_

Hades had just been signing some papers when he suddenly felt a strong pull on his mind. It was very powerful and it seemed to be calling for him. Looking around, Hades saw that no one else seemed to be experiencing it.

Hades turned to the Furies, who were beside him.

"Do you feel something?" Hades asked.

"No, Sir. What are you talking about?"said Alecto.

Hades started thinking. If no one else in the Underworld could feel it, that meant that the force was only pulling gods. After some concentration, Hades figured out where the pull was coming from. Morpheus's Realm. No doubt about it.

 _Hmm, most interesting,_ thought Hades, _Perhaps I should take a nap.  
_

 ** _Morpheus's Dreamworld_**

As soon as Hades closed his eyes for a nap, he appeared in Morpheus's dream realm. The pull now felt stronger than ever and Hades found himself walking towards it. He was cautious, of course, but there was also a tiny spark of hope in his mind. When Alecto had informed him of Percy Jackson's possible location, she had mentioned that she had felt a pull from Morpheus's realm. Apparently, that was how she had confirmed that Percy Jackson was indeed out there, calling for them. Hades wondered if this was the same thing. Would this force pulling him lead him to Percy Jackson? Maybe. Maybe not.

Hades did not have to wait that long to find out. There, standing in front of him, was Percy Jackson. He seemed to be a bit worse for wear but otherwise, he was almost exactly as Hades remembered him. Hades felt excited.

Percy seemed surprised to see him but he quickly regained his composure.

"Uh, hey, Lord Hades. I wasn't really expecting you to come but now that that you're here, it doesn't matter. Long time no see."

* * *

Just as he had stated, Percy had not really expected _Hades_ of all people to show up. He had expected perhaps his father Poseidon, who he had a strong connection with, or perhaps Morpheus as it was his realm. On any account, he had not anticipated the arrival of Lord Hades. After all, he had a rather rocky relationship with the Lord of the Underworld.

"Percy Jackson," said Hades,"It has been a long time indeed."

"Well, yeah. I guess I'll say it. I kinda missed you, Lord Hades, but only kinda. Anyways, can we save the chitchat for later? I have some very important things to say and I'm short on time," said Percy.

Hades nodded,"Of course, let's hear what you've been up to all this time."

Percy took a deep breath and started explaining everything. As he went on, Hades's already pale face became even paler and paler. By the time he finished, Hades was whiter than chalk.

"Seriously, Jackson? Seriously? _How_ do you always manage to get into this much mess? Is Nyx actually planning to do that? Does she even know the consequences?"

Percy rubbed his forehead. "Who knows. For now, let's just plan on getting me out of here. You have to let everyone on Olympus know. Otherwise, we can't defeat her."

Hades nodded gravely. "I'll do what I can. You try to make sure Nyx doesn't go crazy."

"What do you think I've been trying to do all this time? It isn't easy, you know. She's almost impossible to even talk to. But I'll see what I can do."

Hades nodded. "Good. You do that. I'll make sure Athena starts planning a rescue ASAP."

Percy was about to say something else but suddenly, he doubled over, clutching his stomach in pain.

"Nyx is calling. Have to leave," gasped Percy.

With that, Percy let the pain take over him and whisk him back to Nyx's realm.

* * *

 _ **Alaska**_

Thanatos really did not like Alaska.

For the second time, he had been captured and was being held in Alaska. Seriously, what was with his kidnappers and Alaska? If they really wanted to kidnap him that badly, the least they could do was at least take him to some place comfortable. But noooooo. What do they do? The keep him captive in freaking _Alaska._

At least this time he wasn't being held with chains of ice. He supposed that was a good thing.

...

Okay, that was just him being optimistic. This time, he was being held with chains of celestial bronze instead.

Thanatos heaved a deep sigh. Someone really should come to save him. He did not know how much longer he could stand being in Alaska. Whoever it was that had captured him surely knew that Thanatos had been held captive in Alaska before. They must have had a sick sense of humor.

Thanatos sighed and hoped.

 _Someone really should come to save me already._

 **And that's chapter 6, people. Next chappie will be along soon enough. Perhaps even today! Keep waiting!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7's here. Enjoy.**

Chapter 7

 _ **Olympus**_

Athena rubbed her forehead.

It had been about an hour since Hades had dropped the bombshell on them. Apparently, Percy Jackson was being held captive by Nyx, the Protogenos of the Night. And now, Athena was left planning a rescue for him. She had to admit, the plan Percy had used to contact Hades was a clever one. Genius, even. But of course, Athena would never be caught saying that out loud.

Athena gazed at the thrones of the other Olympians. They had all left to do their specific tasks assigned to them by Zeus. Her gaze lingered a bit longer on Poseidon's throne. Undoubtedly, he had been the one who was the happiest yet the saddest to hear the news. His favorite son was alive, but he was captured by a primordial goddess. Although Athena hated Poseidon, she pitied him at the moment. She could not imagine how hard all of this must have been for him.

 _Hmm,_ Athena wondered, _Percy told Hades that he isn't sure exactly where he is but it is probably somewhere in Alaska. We'll have to issue a quest soon but we can't send anyone without any specifics. They wouldn't know know how to rescue him even if they knew where he is._

Athena racked her brain. _Think, think,_ she told herself. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her . Could it be possible to do the reverse of what Percy had done?Could they use Morpheus's realm to rescue him? But for that, they would have to literally enter the dream. And for that, they would need Morpheus's help. There was also the matter of bringing Percy into the dream. That would also require Morpheus's help.

 _It's decided then. A quest will be issued and the first step will be to find Morpheus. If possible, Hypnos too. They would be necessary for this quest._

* * *

 ** _Camp Half-Blood_**

As Annabeth walked towards the Big House, she wondered why Chiron had called her. Soon, her mind wandered to Percy. She wondered what he was doing right now, if he was even alive. She shook these disturbing thoughts away and forced herself to stop thinking about him before she entered the Big House. All the other cabin counselors were already present.

"Ah, Annabeth, you are here. Let us proceed to the meeting now, shall we? I have just received some very important news from Olympus," said Chiron.

"Just say it already, Chiron. You've been beating around the bush ever since we got here. Get to the point already," said Clarrise.

"Well then, I shall get to it," said Chiron, taking a deep breathe,"Percy Jackson is alive."

Chiron waited for a moment to let the information sink in. As soon as it did, there was an uproar in the council room.

"Wait, Prissy is alive?" Three guesses about who said that.

"Whoa, seriously? How do you know? Where is he now? Has he been found?" That was Jason.

"Yes! We always knew he was alive! There is no way the King of Sarcasm could die so easily," said the Stoll brothers.

Everyone was asking questions at the same time, but surprisingly, the one person who was expected to have the most questions was quiet. There was only one thing going through Annabeth's mind.

 _Percy's alive! Percy's alive! Percy's alive!_

Annabeth was overjoyed. So much that she could not even speak. She internally laughed to herself. _Of course Percy's alive! He's Percy Jackson, for gods' sake! There was no way he could die just like that. He's alive! Seaweed Brain's alive!_

And then, another thought struck her.

"Chiron, you say he's alive but where is he right now?" asked Annabeth.

"Yes, I was just getting to that." And then he began to explain everything to them. From Percy's capture to him creating drugs and contacting Hades.

Annabeth was impressed. Percy's plan was actually a very good one. Percy really could be smart when he needed to be.

"So, I'm assuming that you called us here to issue a quest to rescue Percy?"

"Yes," Chiron confirmed. He then told them of Athena's theory and what they needed to do on the quest.

"Now, who is going to lead this quest?"

This question was answered with silence. But it did not matter. It did not need to be answered. Everyone knew who was going to lead this quest anyway.

Annabeth did not miss the looks sent her way. Nor did she mind. She was going to do this, no matter what.

* * *

 ** _Depths of Tartarus  
_**

Tartarus could not believe how stupid his brother was. Did Erebus honestly think that Tartarus was oblivious to his schemes? No, he was not. He knew that Erebus was planning on betraying him as soon as the gods were out of the picture.

Tartarus sighed. A feud between brothers. It would not end well. . . .

. . . . . For Erebus, that is.

But now was not the time to plot his brother's demise. It was the time to plot an attack on their common enemy, Olympus.

 _The attack will be launched soon, and then Olympus would be no more._ Tartarus relished at the thought. _And so would not my brother._

 **A/N: And cut! A quest is _finally_ going to start! What do you think? Let me know. Please don't be a silent reader. F&F.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! The quest is finally about to start so get excited! Enjoy!**

Chapter 8

 _ **Camp Jupiter**_

Reyna had been busy handling her praetor duties when the iris message appeared over her head.

It was Annabeth and she looked happier than Reyna had ever seen her in the past few years. Reyna immediately knew that Annabeth had something big to tell her. She could feel it.

"Hi Reyna," said Annabeth, a large smile plastered on her face. She looked extremely excited, as if she was itching to tell Reyna the news- whatever that was.

"Hello yourself," said Reyna,"Clearly, you have not IM-ed me just to make small talk. You seem to be itching to get to the subject, so let's not beat around the bush."

Annabeth nodded. "Reyna, this is urgent business. I need you to send Frank and Hazel to Camp Half-Blood right away. If possible, you should come too."

"And what is urgent business you speak of?" Reyna inquired. It was not like she had anything particular to do. She would have no problem in going to the other camp. But she needed to know why Annabeth would want them, and them specifically, to go to Camp Half-Blood right now.

Annabeth was practically buzzing with excitement. This was the news she had been waiting to tell.

"We think we've found Percy," said Annabeth, her eyes twinkling as if her greatest wish had come true(which was exactly what happened).

That was all Reyna needed to hear.

"Speak no more. We're coming right away."

* * *

_ _a time skip brought to you by Percy's love for blue cookies_ _

* * *

 _ **Times Square**_

Annabeth walked through the Time Square streets purposefully. Grover was beside her while Jason, Piper and Leo were trailing behind. The four of them were currently trying to trace the whereabouts of the god Morpheus, as that would be the first step to rescuing Percy.

"I remember coming here with Percy once. It was my birthday and we were on a quest for Apollo," said Grover in a nostalgic way," Percy was hanging from a billboard without his jeans on."

Annabeth stared at him. "Do I even want to what else happened?"

"No, you don't," Grover said quickly. He knew that if he told her, then he would receive an elaborate(and boring) lecture about equally boring things.

"This place is cool and all but why are we here again?" asked Jason.

"Because," said Annabeth,"Morpheus is likely to be here. His kids back at camp said that he likes to hang out at Times Square."

Leo suddenly stopped walking. He turned around and stared at the billboard they had just passed. Confused, the others followed his line of vision. What they saw made them stop in their tracks as well.

There, standing on top of the billboard, was the same kind of monster Annabeth had fought before. Correction: were. There were dozens of them.

"What the Hades?" Annabeth cursed, not caring what Nico might have said had he been present. "We'll have to fight them. Jason, Leo, Piper, think you can hold them off?"

"Sure, but where are you two going?" asked Piper.

Annabeth pointed to another billboard. Written on it, with bright neon color, were the words 'Dream Till You Scream'.

"I am 99.9% sure that Morpheus is hiding over there and that billboard is actually an illusion."

Nobody argued with Annabeth. They nodded at each other and headed to their respective destinations; Jason, Piper and Leo towards the monsters, and Annabeth and Grover towards the 'Dream Till You Scream' signboard.

* * *

Jason, Piper and Leo immediately got into action. They wasted no time. Jason took out his weapon and charged it with electricity before attacking. It was a little trick he had learned from Thalia. Leo was on fire, literally. He was moving around like a massive fireball, burning anything that got in his way. Piper was trying to charmspeak the monsters into forfeiting while also stabbing them with her dagger Katopris. The monsters, to their credit, were still alive and fighting. Annabeth and Nico had not been exaggerating when they had said they were strong. Annabeth had only managed to defeat one by using cheap tricks.

And so, they decided to use some cheap tricks of their own. Jason created wind barriers to keep the monsters separated and then they started ganging up on each of them and taking them out one by one. Thankfully, the monsters were quite stupid and did not catch wind of their tactic, pun totally intended. Soon, there was not a single monster left in Times Square.

"Let's go. We should meet up with Annabeth and Grover."

* * *

Just as Annabeth had suspected, the billboard was an illusion. It was an impressive illusion and almost seemed to be material. That was when Grover realized that this was a dream illusion. It was different from the normal illusions. It was not that it did not exist, it was just that it was affecting everyone's brains and making them _dream_ of something that was actually very different from the truth. Normal illusions just disguised the thing to make it seem different but dream illusions warped the mind to make it believe something that was actually not there. Or rather, it _was_ there but you could not see it. Your brain refused to see the real thing.

Annabeth also realized this. She muttered a few obscenities under her breathe before calming down and closing her eyes. She touched the billboard and started feeling her way around.

 _We can't see it,_ Grover realized, _But we_ can _feel it._

Grover started doing the exact same thing as Annabeth and soon enough, his hand touched something that felt like a doorknob. Grinning in triumph, Grover called for Annabeth to come to him. Annabeth did and the two of them twisted the doorknob together. Immediately, the illusion shattered and something clicked in Grover's mind. He blinked once and realized that he could see perfectly now.

In front of him was an open door which seemed to be floating in the air. Grover concluded that this must be the road leading them to Morpheus. He and Annabeth shared a look before tentatively stepping into the door.

The inside was absolutely beautiful but neither of them had the time to fully appreciate it because Jason, Piper and Leo took that exact moment to rush into the room(?) and bump into them.

After a lot of groaning and complaining, they finally sorted themselves out. Grover was the first to be up and organized. He looked up expecting to see the beautiful scenery from before but instead, he was met with the dark eyes of a certain god of dreams.

"I see you have successfully broken through my illusion," said Morpheus,"I have a policy to grant one wish of anyone who passes through my wards, so I suppose I will have to grant your wishes. Say, young ones, what is your dream?"

* * *

 ** _Camp Half-Blood_**

Reyna walked around the borders of Camp Half-Blood, trying to ease her worries. When she had heard that there was going to be a rescue mission for Percy, she, along with Hazel and Frank, had rushed to the Greek camp from Camp Jupiter. Reyna was frustrated. Everyone else had been given a quest yet she had been left behind.

From the corner of her eye, Reyna spotted something moving. Cautiously, she stepped forward and this time, she could clearly see a pair of glowing eyes. Instinct screamed at her to run and Reyna decided to trust her instinct. Turning around, she tried running as fast as she could but before she could get far, the strange creature leapt at her from behind and started dragging her away.

 _I have to. . . warn them,_ was the last only thing that went through Reyna's mind before she lost consciousness and was dragged underground.

 **Done with chapter 8. Hope you liked it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's chapter 9, fellas. Hope you'll enjoy it.**

Chapter 9

 _ **CN Tower**_

"Remind me, why are we here again?" said an irritated Nico.

While Annabeth, Grover, Jason, Leo and Piper had been tasked with finding Percy, Nico, Hazel and Frank had been tasked with finding Thanatos, who was apparently MIA, and not for the first time. But that was not the reason for Nico's anger. No, it was because he had been forced to shadow travel the three of them to the top of the CN tower. And Nico, being a son of Hades, naturally hated heights. Although Hazel was a daughter of Pluto, heights seemed to affect her much less than him.

"Thanatos was last spotted in here. We're here to see if we can find any clues as to where he might be now," said Frank, who was very much comfortable to be in his home country, Canada.

Nico kept his distance from the railing. He looked around warily, as if he expected Thanatos to suddenly pop out of nowhere.

Although Nico was fully expecting something to pop out of nowhere, it did not make him any less afraid when something actually _did_ pop out of nowhere. He was so startled that he fell on his butt and squeaked like a little girl. Later on, when Nico would be reminiscing about this incident, he would be omitting the squeaking part, and the falling part for that matter.

Hazel and Frank were also very shocked and several things happened to them in the next few seconds. Hazel yelped and took a step back, bumping into a shocked Frank who was standing next to the railing, causing both of them to fall over the railing and plummet to their deaths. Fortunately, Frank regained his senses midair and turned into a large bird and perched Hazel on his back. Hazel breathed a sigh of relief as Frank flew them both back to the top of the tower, where Nico was still sitting on his butt.

As they looked closely, it turned out that the something which had popped out of nowhere was actually not Thanatos, which was quite disappointing as it would have saved them a lot of trouble if it actually was him. No, it was not Thanatos. It was Hecate, the goddess of magic and the Mist.

Hazel bowed as soon as she realized who it was, and she was soon followed by Frank and Nico, who had finally gotten up from his sitting position. Hecate smiled at them, although it was a little strained.

"Hello, demigods."

"Hello, Lady Hecate," said Hazel,"If you do not mind me asking, what are you doing here?"

"I am here to help you with your quest, of course," said Hecate, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The three of them were surprised, as well as rather skeptical.

"You know about our quest?" asked Frank.

"Yes, son of Mars," Hecate said,"I know a lot of things. And Thanatos's location happens to be one of them."

"You really know it?" Nico asked suspiciously,"And you are helping us why?"

"Because I know what is at stake here this time. I wish to do anything I can to help Olympus with this war."

Hecate looked around, checking her surroundings, making sure there was no one. Then she looked at them one last time and said, "follow me" before disappearing into the shadows.

Hazel, Frank and Nico shared a look. Frank shrugged, saying,

"It's the best lead we've got."

They followed.

* * *

 _ **With Morpheus and the gang**_

"So, let me get this straight. You know exactly how to to communicate with Percy and how to save him but you won't help us unless we bring you embarrassing pictures of Hypnos?" Grover was finding the situation to be utterly ridiculous. Honestly, gods and their stupid demands.

Morpheus shrugged.

"Hypnos is my dad and he isn't really the most stellar of dads, mind you. Embarrassing pictures would be the perfect blackmail material at family dinners."

Grover groaned. Not only was Morpheus making them do a completely unreasonable thing, he was making them do it for such a petty reason. Seriously, why did there have to be a catch to everything?

"But you said you would grant our wish!" Annabeth protested,"You never said anything about us having to grant a wish of yours in return!"

"Well, I'm saying it now, aren't I?" said Morpheus, lazily picking his ear. The five of them were thoroughly disgusted.

"Look dude, we really don't have much time now," said Leo,"We're at, you know, war with the _primordial gods?_ Should getting blackmail material against your dad really be your first priority now?"

"Of course!" Morpheus exclaimed without any hesitation whatsoever, "It is always the time for getting blackmail material!"

The five heroes simultaneously face palmed. Clearly, they were not going to get anywhere with talking to Morpheus.

They shared a look.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Leo.

"If you are thinking about strangling this insufferable excuse of a god and forcing him into cooperation, then we might just be thinking of the same thing," said Jason.

"Okay, guys, we clearly _cannot_ do that. Looks like we'll have to take some photographs," said Piper, who had never been one about taking photos.

Annabeth, though, was thinking of something else.

"That's not the biggest problem guys," she said,"We could take as many pictures as we want. But the question is, how are we even supposed to find Hypnos?"

* * *

 _A time skip brought to you by Chronos having a mood swing and accidentally creating a time loop_

* * *

Grover looked at his surroundings in awe. The others were also gawking similarly.

"Okay, not to say that this isn't totally awesome because it is, but just how did we end up in Hawaii from Times Square?"

"Morpheus sent us. Apparently, Hypnos is here for a vacation. He told me telepathically when we were being teleported," said Annabeth.

"I can't believe it," said Piper, "While we're out there, in war, Hypnos is here, in a _vacation_? Are you sure Morpheus isn't just playing with us?"

"No," said Grover, chewing nervously on a tin can he had brought with him as emergency rations, "He's definitely here. I can sense a strong presence in here. He must be disguised. We have to find him, fast."

Leo suddenly pointed to their left."Uhh, guys? I think I found our god."

Following Leo's trail of vision, they saw a pudgy, middle-aged man lying on the beach. His hair was a vibrant but obnoxious shade of pink, almost nauseating. Perched on his eyes was a pair of heart sunglasses with a hypnotizing pattern. Everything about him was just so...hypnotic. It made them drowsy just by looking at him. But all of these were not what led them to the conclusion that he really was Hypnos. No, it was soft, fluffy pillow he was using to sleep that finally made them believe that he really was the god they were looking for.

Annabeth grinned.

"Alright guys, time to snap some candid shots."

 **And that's it, people. Chapter 9 is done. Next chapter will be out soon but after that I will probably be taking a longer time to update. My term finals are approaching and I only have drafts written up to chapter 10. Send me reviews, guys. They keep me motivated. Follow and fav too, but it's up to you whether you want to do it or not. I would really appreciate it if you do, though.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's chapter 10 for you! I love you all, which is why I made this chapter extra long as advanced compensation for the slow updates of my later chapters. Enjoy!**

Chapter 10

 _ **With Artemis's Hunters**_

Thalia cursed loudly as she hunted yet another monster. The number of monsters were becoming ridiculously large. this group of monsters was the fourth one to attack the Hunt that day.

As soon as the monsters were all defeated, Thalia withdrew her bow and arrow and sighed deeply.

"Seriously, when are these attacks going to stop?" she said, extremely irritated.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe when the Protogenoi are defeated?" said Phoebe sarcastically.

Thalia shot her an annoyed look.

"Phoebe, I really don't have time for any sarcasm right now."

Thalia told the hunt to set up camp and take rest. She was fairly certain that there would not be a monster attack anytime now. But still, there was a nagging feeling in her stomach, saying that something bad was about to happen.

After Thalia had made sure that all the hunters were resting, she took off in the opposite direction to scout around. She could not shake off the feeling that something horrible was about to happen. And since Lady Artemis was not present at the moment, if something were to happen, it would be up to Thalia to handle it. Perks of being Artemis's lieutenant.

 _Yeah, perks!_ Thalia scoffed to herself, _who am I kidding?_

Running around the area, Thalia became certain that there was nothing harmful in the vicinity. Unless you counted the poisonous berries that is, and Thalia was pretty sure they did not count.

 _Why do I have this bad feeling? Gosh, I am acting as paranoid as my dad. Still, there's been a lot of monster activity lately, so I think my paranoia is justified._

Thalia could not shake of the feeling that she was missing the bigger picture. Something bigger was at work here.

 _Now, why would there be this many attacks on the Hunt? From what I've heard from Camp, they haven't been having any attacks. So, what could be the reason? There's nothing to gain._

Thalia suddenly stopped walking as realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

 _Unless...unless they wanted us to be distracted?! Oh gods, please don't let it be what I think it is!_

Turning around, Thalia started running towards the hunters' camp as fast as possible. But before she could reach camp and warn the Hunters, a wolf like creature suddenly jumped in front of her and tackled her to the ground. Her head hit the ground hard and she could feel her consciousness slipping away. She felt someone grab her feet and start dragging her away to who-knows-where.

Summoning the last bit of her strength, Thalia stretched out her arms and started writing on the forest ground. She found herself thanking every god that was out there for the ground being muddy. Otherwise, her writing would have been indecipherable. She also prayed to all the gods that the Hunters would see this and follow her instructions.

After she had been dragged away, the only signs left of Thalia having ever been present in this place were the words written in the muddy ground:

 _ **Go to Camp H B**_

* * *

 _ **With the Thanatos Rescue Team**_

The Thanatos Rescue team, which consisted of Nico, Hazel and Frank, were currently sitting on the sofa of a place where the goddess of magic, Hecate, had brought them, drinking coffee. They were not entirely sure where the place was, but the did know that the place had an amazingly soft sofa as well as some really good coffee so they were not very keen on leaving. They were just making themselves comfortable when Hecate spoke up,

"Thanatos is in Alaska."

That simple sentence had Frank and Hazel groaning very loudly. Nico felt pity for them.

"Alaska. Why does it always have to be Alaska? We already rescued him from Alaska once, didn't we?"

Needless to say, Hazel and Frank were not taking the news very well. Hecate, to her credit, was very patient and she explained everything patiently.

"The most logical place to keep someone in captivity to hide them from gods would be Alaska. I have already confirmed that Thanatos is there. And since Percy Jackson is probably nearby, you have nothing to lose by going to Alaska." Hecate paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, I should warn you, rescuing them will not be easy. You will have to use your power over the Mist to your full potential, Hazel."

Hazel, Frank and Nico pondered over this. What Hecate had said was true. They would have to journey to Alaska one way or another. They might as well make it now.

"Alright, Lady Hecate, we'll do as you say. We'll go to Alaska and I'll strengthen my power. Please lead the way."

Hecate smiled at them before opening a portal.

"Hop in," she instructed.

And hop in, they did.

* * *

 _ **With the Percy Rescue Team, Hawaii**_

Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo and Grover were currently in a predicament. Although their plan for taking embarrassing pictures of Hypnos was perfectly laid out and waiting to be executed, they were still missing one crucial piece.

They did not have a camera.

"Oh my gods, I can't believe we didn't notice this earlier," said Piper, facepalming at their own ignorance,"How are we supposed to take pics now?"

"Hey, aren't you an expert on stealing, Pipes? Surely you can steal a camera if you could steal a car," reasoned Leo.

Piper's face flushed.

"I did not _steal_ it, Leo," she said through gritted teeth.

"You're missing the point, Piper. Can you do it or not?" asked Annabeth.

Piper gave a resigned sigh before agreeing to charmspeak someone into lending them a camera.

Within five minutes, they were in possession of a camera(which belonged to some poor bloke who had the misfortune of being Piper's victim) and were fully ready to take some photographs.

It was unanimously decided that Jason should be the photographer. The reason for this, no one really knew.

Camera in one hand, Jason approached the sleeping god cautiously. Placing it at a weird a angle, Jason snapped the first picture. Checking whether it would be embarrassing enough or not, he nodded with satisfaction before reversing the angle and taking another picture. He showed it to the others who gave him nods of approval. By now, Jason had pretty much gotten in he mood. He was getting a little over his head. Feeling rather bold, Jason proceeded to scoop up some sand and place it on Hynos's obnoxious pink hair. The others watched, wide eyed, as Jason snapped a picture.

"Dude," Leo whistled, impressed,"Remind me to salute you later on."

But their moment of awe was short-lived. Just as Jason was about to click another picture, Hypnos's eyes snapped open. Immediately, they all froze in their spot. It took Hypnos some time to organize himself but once he did, he took of his spiral patterned sunglasses and fixed the five of them with a glare. If his eyes had not been so droopy and filled with dark circles, the glare might actually have had some effect. But as it was, the five of them were having a hard time trying to suppress their laughter. Jason could not help it.

He snapped a picture.

And then promptly fell asleep.

* * *

 ** _Nyx's Realm_**

 _Clash. Clomp. Bang.  
_

 _The sound of swords clashing, of explosions, of people screaming, of people dying._

 _Blood. Blood everywhere._

 _Annabeth was in front of him, a spear stuck in her chest, covered in blood, of her own as well as others. She looked straight at him, her eyes blood-shot and filled with hatred and betrayal._

 _"You did this! It's all your fault! It's because you left her that I became like this. It's all your fault, Percy Jackson, you brought this upon yourself!"_

 _His eyes were glassy and broken. "Don't do this, Annabeth. I love you."_

 _"I am not Annabeth!" she screamed at him before giving a dry laugh,"Goodbye, Percy Jackson, I had fun."_

 _With that, she raised her dagger and-_

Percy woke up covered in sweat. It had been a long time since Percy had had any nightmare. Initially, Nyx used to torture him with nightmares but she had stopped doing that a long time ago. So why did he suddenly have a nightmare? Was Nyx having a mood swing or something?

But Percy had a feeling that this was much more than a nightmare. Much worse. It had felt real. It had felt like- like a demigod dream. And demigod dreams were rather high on Percy's hate list. They always came true, and they were never good.

Annabeth. There was no way she could ever do something like that, could she? No, no, it was impossible. she loved him like he did her and she could never betray him.

Could she, though? Percy shuddered to think. _No,_ he told himself _, Annabeth would never do something like that._ He chanted it to himself like a mantra until he calmed down enough to think properly. He forced himself to think that this was just a normal nightmare and nothing else.

But even so, there was still a nagging feeling in his stomach. There was a single question in his mind that refused to go away. He could not bring himself to rest and that one questing kept gnawing at him the entire time.

Who had been the traitor in his dream? Had it been Annabeth?

Or had it been him?

 **Ha ha, I am feeling quite evil so am going to leave you hanging. I would like to know what you guys think of Percy's dream. I already know what it is but you won't know until much, much later. I would still like to know what your deductions are. All I'm going to tell you is, don't worry, it's still Percabeth. Oh, and Thalia had finally made her debut. Took her long enough, huh? Anyways, she's here now and and I'm out!**


	11. Chapter 11

**All of you are so mean! None of you told me what you thought of the dream. Oh well, I guess you can listen to me ranting about it later on. For now, just sit back and enjoy the chapter.**

Chapter 11

 _ **Unknown Location, Somewhere Underground**_

When Reyna woke up, she was greeted by the sight of the most horrible and foul-smelling creature she had ever seen in her life. It seemed to be asleep next to her and the sight of it immediately made her want to gag but she soon found out that she could not do that because her mouth was taped. Wait, since when did monsters learn to use duct tape?

Reyna decided that she would probably have a lot of time to ponder over that question later and right now, her priority should be figuring out where she was, and getting out of it.

Reyna tried to move but her limbs were tied with ropes. She was not blindfolded but that did not really make much difference as it was almost impossible to see in the darkness anyway. The only reason she had been able to see the creature beside her was because it seemed to be radiating a dim glow, but that was not enough to fully see the place. Reyna figured that she was somewhere underground, but that information was next to useless if it could not help her escape from- from wherever she currently was.

Suddenly, a flame was lit and Reyna could make out her surroundings. Surrounding her were hordes of monsters she had never seen or heard of before. They came in all shapes and sizes, and in great numbers too. They were all equally hideous and Reyna was willing to bet that they all smelled much worse than moldy cheese and dirty socks combined.

A particularly large monster came forward and kicked the monster that was sleeping beside Reyna. The monster immediately jumped from his position and started looking around frantically, as if he was under attack. When he finally oriented himself, he quickly got down to his knees and started praising the large monster before him. In return, the large monster kicked him again, this time in the gut.

"You idiot! You were supposed to be on guard duty! What if the prisoner tried to escape? What would you have done then, huh?"The larger one scolded the smaller monster, kicking him once again.

"I am very ssssorry, Masssster Gyro. It will never happen again! But look, the prisssoner's ssstill asssleep," hissed the smaller monster in a snake-like manner, turning to look at Reyna.

Reyna immediately closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. She did not want to be caught eavesdropping on their conversation because, for some reason, she did not think it would be received very well. After what seemed to be hours but was actually a few moments, the monsters took their eyes off of her. But it was still too soon to be relieved.

From the corner of her eye(which she had opened once again), Reyna saw two monsters enter the place, dragging an unconscious girl with them. With her spiky black hair and the silver circlet on her head, the girl looked extremely familiar to Reyna. It took Reyna a few moments to figure out who it was. It was Jason's sister, Thalia.

"We've got her," said one of the monsters which had just entered the the place,"Artemis's lieutenant."

"Yeah," said another, "Now we will gain the favor of Lords Erebus and Tartarus."

Outwardly, Reyna did not show any emotion but on the inside, she was seething. Not only had they captured her, but they had kidnapped Thalia too. How dare they? Reyna could not understand their motive at all.

 _Perhaps you have gained their favor,_ thought Reyna _, but you have certainly not gained ours. And when the time comes, we will strike and that will be your downfall._

Reyna glanced at the unconscious form of Thalia. She was battered and bruised and did not seem likely to wake up any time. Reyna heaved a sigh. She just needed to wait until Thalia woke up. And then they would make their move.

* * *

 _ **Camp Half-Blood**_

Travis Stoll was currently in a very bad mood. In fact, his mood was so bad that he was sure that if he could sell his bad mood, he could earn a living.

First of all, he and his brother Connor had been caught trying to steal from the Demeter cabin, which had resulted in them being slapped by its Head counselor, Katie Gardner, who also happened to be Travis's long time crush.

Secondly, they had been banned from the other cabins by Chiron so that they could not cause any disturbances, as Chiron so kindly put it. It was absolutely unfair because you certainly did not see the other Hermes campers being banned from other cabins.

And lastly, they had found out that Reyna was missing and Katie was blaming Travis for it as he was supposed to be on patrol at that time. Connor had tried to invite Travis to play some pranks with him but he had refused. Even stealing and playing pranks could not make his mood any better.

Travis sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Katie. She was the root of all his problems. If she had not been so persistent in believing that Reyna's disappearance had been his fault, then his mood might have been a little better. If it had been anyone else, Travis would have just laughed it off but because it had been _Katie_ who said it, it just hurt so much. He himself really did not get why he liked that girl so much.

Travis jumped off from the tree branch he had been sitting on and dusted his pants. Deciding that being sad and grumpy would not do him any good, Travis stretched his arms and tried to cheer himself up.

"Alright! Travis Stoll is back in his game so you better watch out, people!" He yelled, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Oh? Someone's feeling awfully cheerful it seems," said a voice from his back. Turning around, Travis came face to face with the one person he least wanted to see right now. Three guesses who that was.

Yup. Katie Gardner.

Immediately, Travis's mood worsened again. "What do you want, Katie?"

Katie's confidence seemed to dissipate. She looked rather uncomfortable, as if she would prefer to be anywhere in the world except here. Travis figured she probably would.

"I wanted to talk about...things."

Travis raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What things are we talking about?"

Katie looked like she was very much tempted to punch him but in the end, she just settled for a glare."You know exactly what I am talking about. Look, it- it wasn't right of me to accuse you without any reason. I still think it's your fault though, mind you."

"So you admit that you were wrong? That you should not have accused a poor, innocent guy of something beyond his power?"

"I did not say any thing like that! All I'm trying to say is, I should have found at least some proof first before accusing you. What i want to say is, I- I-" Katie looked like it mortally pained her to be saying this.

"Am sorry?" Travis was smirking now, his bad mood long gone. He was really enjoying himself now.

Katie glared at him once again before taking a deep breath."Yes. that is what I'm trying to say. I am-"

But before Katie could apologize, she was cut off by the sound of the conch horn. Both of them simultaneously turned around and glowered at nothing for some time. They were both extremely annoyed, Travis especially. He had just been about to get an apology from Katie of all people, who hated his guts more than anyone else. It would have been equivalent to going to Elysium.

They started walking towards the dining halls where everyone was assembling. Everyone seemed to be confused as to what was going on. Travis looked around, confused.

"Hey, what's all the fuss about?" He asked a random camper who was passing by him. The camper shrugged, indicating that he did not know either.

Katie also tried asking around but everyone seemed to be just as confused as them.

Finally, when everyone was assembled in the dining area, they got to know why the conch horn had rung. Standing beside Chiron, was an angry and distressed mob of girls, all of them dressed in similar silver hunting outfits with bows and arrows in their hands and hunting knives at their sides. They were, unmistakably, the Hunters of Artemis.

Chiron himself looked rather confused by the arrival of the huntresses. Nonetheless, he announced their arrival,

"Campers, it looks like the Hunters of Artemis have arrived with some important news."

 **And cut. So, I decided to put a bit of Tratie in here. I'm not really sure whether it's canon or not, but whatever. What did you think of it? By the way, my favorite part of this chapter was the snake talk. What about you? This chapter was mostly an interlude from the actual plot but the last bit is rather important. Next chapter, we will be returning to the quests. I'm out now.**

 **P.S. Don't forget to review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's chapter 12. Like I said before, we will be going back to the quest now. Let's see what's happening to them, shall we?**

Chapter 12

 _ **Hawaii**_

Annabeth was not sure what to make of the situation.

A very angry(and sleepy) god was glowering at her and her teammates and Jason, after making the mistake of taking said god's picture, was now lying on the ground, fast asleep. Probably because of Hypnos's power.

"Lord Hypnos," started Annabeth, deciding to negotiate with him,"We-"

"And just what do you think you are doing?" Hypnos interrupted, rather rudely Annabeth might add,"You just interrupted my beauty sleep! And you have the audacity to still talk to me?!"

"Er, Lord Hypnos-" Annabeth tried to talk but she was once again interrupted by Hypnos.

"Don't. Talk."

Annabeth decided that the best course of action right now would be to keep her mouth shut and let the god sort himself out. Piper, though, seemed to think otherwise.

"Lord Hypnos," said Piper, adding a layer of charmspeak to her voice,"We have a perfectly good reason for doing all of this. Perhaps if you would just let us explain? You could, of course, also let our friend wake up. You do want to know what is going on, don't you?"

Hypnos was thoughtful, which made him look utterly ridiculous. "Yes, I do want to know what is going on. Speak, half-bloods. You _are_ demigods, aren't you?"

"Yes, we are," said Annabeth,"We-"

"You shut up. I don't recall telling you to speak. The pretty one will speak,"said Hypnos, interrupting Annabeth for the third time.

Annabeth gritted her teeth. What was it, 'pick-on-Annabeth' day? Not only did Hypnos interrupt her, _thrice_ might she add, he also had to insult her looks. Although she would never ever admit it to anyone, that 'pretty' comment hurt. It was not that she was jealous of Piper for being prettier, she knew and accepted it, but her looks were a rather sensitive topic for her. Because of her looks, she had always been thought of as a dumb blonde. Because of it, she always had to work extra hard to prove herself.

Piper looked rather irritated at the comment too, but that was probably for different reasons.

"Very well, Lord Hypnos," said Piper, "But first, could you please release Jason? Then I promise I'll explain everything."

Hypnos thought about it for a second before agreeing. He flicked his hand and immediately, Jason's eyes shot open. He sat up, looking rather dazed. It took him a moment or two to process the whole situation. When he did, he immediately got up and bowed.

"Lord Hypnos," Jason started,"It's-"

"-perfectly alright," Hypnos finished for him, although Annabeth doubted that it was the thing that Jason had been going to say."Now speak, little lady. And you better make it fast. I have to go back to sleep."

So, Piper started explaining everything. She told him of their quest and their meeting with Morpheus, the name of whom earned them a lot of grumbling from Hypnos. Something along the lines of 'disgraceful little brat' and 'can't he be on his way to the Void already?'. Of course, Piper did not tell Hypnos of the real reason why they had come to him , because she was fairly certain that the news would not be received very well, in the least.

After all had been explained, Hypnos looked extremely thoughtful. Which was to say, he looked like a demented potato about to be chopped off and mixed in a salad of rotten tomatoes, stale vegetables and moldy cheese. Don't bother to imagine what that looks like. You would live a happier life without knowing that.

"Very well," said Hypnos with a sense of finality, as if it was a jury and he had just decided on his verdict, "I shall let you off the hook this time. But you'd better get out of my sight soon. Now shoo!"

The five demigods looked at each other.

"Does anyone know how to get back to Morpheus?"

Silence.

"Oh well, looks like we'll have to hitch a ride."

* * *

 _ **Unnamed Sweets Shop  
**_

When Nico, Hazel and Frank stepped out of the portal made by Hecate, they were standing at the back of a sweets shop.

"Um, are you sure we did not come to the wrong place?" said Hazel nervously.

"I'm not really sure," said Frank.

"Maybe this is an illusion?" suggested Nico.

"No, no. This is perfectly real, demigods. I assure you, we are at the correct place," said a voice from behind.

They all whipped around at the same time, only to come face to face with Hecate, the one who was responsible for sending them to the back of a sweets shop in the first place.

"Ah, Lady Hecate. Don't scare us like that," said Hazel.

"Oh, did I scare you? I will have to make sure not to do that again then."

"Wait, again?" Nico demanded, "Are you gonna be accompanying us on the quest?"

"Only until you get to Alaska," said Hecate,"Which will be soon enough, don't worry."

Nico was still suspicious but he decided not to pursue the subject any further. While it would be a great advantage to have a goddess accompanying them on the quest, it was too good to be true. Demigods were like pawns to the gods. They made demigods do all the work while they leaned back and sipped their drinks. Such was the nature of the gods. Why would Hecate be any different?

"This is not an ordinary shop, you see," Hecate explained,"It is run by a demigod daughter of mine. She owes me her life. I have no doubt that she will agree to arrange a trip to Alaska for you."

"She owes you her life?" Nico asked suspiciously.

For a moment, Hecate's face darkened before becoming neutral again."Yes, she does. It is quite a long story. You need not hear it. Let us go inside."

When they entered the sweets shop, they were greeted by a cheerful brunette girl with large chocolatey eyes. "Hello, customers! Welcome! What would you like to have?"

"Nothing," Hecate said, "We are here to meet the owner of this shop."

The girl frowned. "So you're not customers then?"

"Oh, I assure you we are," said Hecate with a forced smile, "Just not for sweets."

"Oh well, I suppose I'll show you to the owner. But I have to warn you, she's not in the best of moods right now." And with that, the brunette started to walk toward a door at the very back of the shop. They all followed her.

The girl knocked on the door twice and a tired voice came from the inside.

"Come in."

The girl softly opened the door and peeked inside. "You've got visitors, boss."

"Who?" demanded the voice from the inside.

The girl turned back to them and politely asked who they were. Hecate said, "Tell her it's her mother."

The girl gave Hecate a weird look before yelling to the person on the other side of the door, "It's your mother!"

Immediately, the temperature of the place seemed to drop to zero. Nico had to stop himself from actually shivering. The others were also in similar condition. The brunette girl seemed to have it the hardest. Poor mortal.

Hecate, though, was resolute. She spoke, her voice steady and purposeful,

"It's your mother. Let me in. I have a favor to ask of you."

For a long time, everything was silent. Finally, the silence was broken by the voice coming from inside the door. The voice was rather shaky but filled with determination.

"Come in."

Hecate nodded at Nico, Hazel and Frank, gesturing for them to enter through the door. They all shared a nervous look before taking one last look at Hecate. Hecate's face was emotionless but if you looked carefully enough, you could see a hint of nervousness. Nico, Hazel and Frank took a deep breath before entering the room.

There, sitting on a stool, was one of the last people Nico had expected to see. A camper who had been presumed dead for the last four years.

Lou Ellen Blackstone.

 **And that's it. At first, I wanted to put in an OC as Hecate's daughter but then I decided against it for two reasons. 1) It would be more interesting if the character was someone you knew but did not expect to see, and 2) I am horrible a making OCs. Anyhow, this chapter turned out okay. At least, I think it did.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's chap 13. Enjoy.**

Chapter 13

 _ **Camp Half-Blood**_

"So, you're saying that Thalia suddenly disappeared and you found something written on the ground in her handwriting, telling you to come here?" Will Solace inquired the Hunters, making sure he had got the story correctly.

Phoebe nodded her head. "We searched all around the forest and there was no sign of her anywhere. Only the writing. I'm sure it was Thalia's."

 _Strange,_ Will thought to himself _, First Reyna suddenly disappears from camp and now Thalia's gone missing too? And all of this happened just after the quests started. What could all this mean?_

"Can you think think of anything that might tell us _why_ she wanted you to come here?" asked Will.

Phoebe scratched her chin, trying to think what reason Thalia could have had to send them to Camp Half-Blood. In the end, nothing came to her mind.

"Sorry. I can't think of anything. It's true that we _were_ planning on coming to camp a while ago but the trip was cancelled by Lady Artemis. I really don't know why Thalia would us to come here now."

"I see, well, thank you for-"

"Why were you planning on coming to camp a while ago? As far as I know, the Hunters don't like the camps very much," interrupted Malcolm Pace, the acting Head counselor of the Athena cabin in Annabeth's absence.

Phoebe gave him an annoyed look. "Is that really important? Thalia is missing and all you can worry about is why we wanted to come here?"

"You don't know it, do you?" said Malcolm, "It was Artemis's plan and she never told you why you were to come here. Thalia was the only one who knew but she also never told you because Artemis ended up cancelling it. Why was it, though, I wonder?"

"You, how- how do you know all of that?"

Malcolm smiled, "I'm a son of Athena. In case you didn't know, we are great at analyzing the situation."

Phoebe sighed, "Right. So, if you're so smart, why don't you tell us what is going on?"

"What does it look like I'm trying to do?" said Malcolm irritably, "If Artemis was the one who told you to come to camp, then why did she end up cancelling it? Do you know that? Did she tell you in person?"

"Well, she did tell us to come here in person, but it was Thalia who told us it was cancelled. Lady Artemis was not present. Now that I think about it, Thalia was acting rather weirdly at that time. As if she was in a daze or something. Oh, and boy, don't call Lady Artemis by her first name. It's best if you don't call her at all but if you must, at least add a Lady to it!"

But Malcolm was not listening to her. The gears in his head were turning. He was starting to see the connection between all of this. And Phoebe's statement of Thalia being in a daze had just confirmed his suspicion.

"Of course! That's it! Artemis had no reason to cancel trip to camp, which means that it wasn't her who cancelled it, but rather, it was someone else! And you just said that Thalia had been acting weirdly at that time, which confirms my suspicion that she was being controlled by someone. The question remains, who would do something like that, and why?" said Malcolm.

"Could it be hat it was a distraction?" wondered Will.

And that was when all the puzzle pieces finally clicked in Malcolm's head. "Of course! You're a genius, Will!"

"I am?"

"No! But that must be the reason. A diversion. Someone wanted to stop you from coming to camp, which could have been done for two reasons. One, they wanted us to be separate so that it would be easier to attack. Or two, something big is about to happen to camp and they did not want the Hunters to interfere. There hasn't been any attack on camp since the quests started but the Hunters have been getting lots of monster attacks. If it was for the first reason, camp would have been attacked too but it wasn't, which leads me to the conclusion that it must have been for the second one."

"So, you're saying that something big is about to happen to camp," said Will, "Maybe a large monster attack? We haven't had any large scale attacks for a long time. The last time it happened, almost half of our forces were wiped out."

"It could be. I can see why they would not want the Hunters to be here if the launch an attack like that. The Hunters are a force to be reckoned with, after all."

Malcolm was about to say something more but before he could, the door to the room swung open and a ragged Ares kid entered the room. He was sweating heavily, as if he had just run a very long distance. Just then, the conch horn sounded three times.

"There's been an attack," said the Ares kid, "Hundreds and hundreds of monsters. A son of Demeter is already dead. He was on patrol."

Malcolm, Will and Phoebe shared a look.

"Looks like our fears just came true."

* * *

 _ **With The Percy Rescue Team**_

After an extremely tiring event which involved Annabeth somehow summoning the grey sisters in Hawaii and the five of them squeezing together in their cab to go for the most hectic and deadly ride of their life with 'Highway to Hades' playing on the radio all the time, the Percy-rescue team finally found their way back to Times Square again.

It was another extremely tiring task to search for the 'Dream Till You Scream' billboard and getting back to Morpheus's realm. When they finally got there, they all simultaneously punched the god of dreams in the face because of all the things he had put them through, although they were perfectly aware that the god could vaporize them in an instant for such disrespect.

Morpheus really was going to pulverize them but they managed to hold him back by showing him the embarrassing pictures of Hypnos. Morpheus then became too busy laughing to vaporize them, which was a huge relief.

"So, are you going to help us now?" asked Annabeth.

"Hmm" said Morpheus, "I think not."

"What?" Annabeth was enraged. "You promised to help us if we got photos of Hypnos! We did that so you should keep your end of the promise too! Besides, when we first came, you said that you grant the wishes of those who pass through your wards. So, even if you did not grant our wishes the first time, you have to do it now because we've passed through it a second time!"

"Well, your reasoning is certainly valid," said Morpheus, "But there is one thing you didn't account for. In the first request, you had to do something for me to get your wish granted. If you want your wish this time, you have to do another thing for me. And I suggest not trying to hit me once again."

"And how do we know that yo won't deceive us again?" asked Grover in a suspicious tone."Swear on the River Styx, Lord Morpheus. Then we'll believe you."

Morpheus sighed heavily, "You demigods are getting way over you heads these days. But fine, I swear on the River Styx."

Annabeth still had her suspicions about Morpheus but she decided to trust him for the moment. After all, what else was there to do? She was getting more and more desperate to rescue Percy by the minute. Right now, she would do anything.

"Alright, what do you want us to do?" asked Piper.

Morpheus gave smile that was sadistic yet full of pity at the same time.

"Ever heard of the Shrine of Nyx?"

 **And cut. There you have it. The unlucky 13! Please review, people, and tell me what you think.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14, here we go.**

Chapter 14

 _ **Unnamed Sweets Shop**_

Nico stared at the person in front of him with disbelief.

"Lou Ellen?" He still could not quite believe his eyes.

Surprise flitted through Lou's face as well. "Nico? And you're- Hazel and Frank? What?"

"Lou Ellen," Nico repeated, "What are you doing here? I- we all thought you were dead! For like, four years?"

"Shouldn't you have known that I was alive? Aren't you the Ghost King? I thought you could tell when someone died," said Lou, her surprise at seeing them now gone, replaced with an unreadable expression.

Nico was not sure how to respond to that. The truth was, he had actually never bothered to check whether she was alive or not. He had just assumed she was dead, just like everyone else. But now that he knew she was alive, he could not help but feel guilty.

"Right, I suppose I wasn't really important enough to bother with. But that's all in the past. I'm not one to hold grudges, unlike some people," said Lou, her voice somewhat mocking and somewhat cold.

Was she picking a fight with him? But then again, Nico could not really blame her if she was. It was his fault, after all, and he needed to face it, not run away. But now was not the time. Right now, they had a job to do. A job that required Lou's help.

"Look," Nico started, "I know that-" But before he could finish, he was cut off by Hecate.

"As lovely as this reunion is, we really don't have much time. Lou, dear, I have a favor to ask of you."

Lou Ellen looked annoyed at being called _dear._ She also did not seem very ecstatic about the fact that they needed a favor from her. For this, also, Nico could not blame her. Had he been in her place, he would not exactly have been the happiest person on Earth either.

Lou narrowed her eyes. "And what is it that you want from me?"

"Nothing too big, I promise," said Hecate, "I just need you to arrange a trip to Alaska for these three lovely demigods. They're your friends, no? You shouldn't have any problem doing a favor for your friend."

"Favor for friends? Yeah, right. More like, an errand for your godly mother who will pulverize you otherwise," Lou muttered under her breath. It was not very loud, but they all managed to hear it anyway. Needless to say, Hecate was not very happy with that statement.

"Don't push the line," said Hecate, her tone cold and intimidating, "You owe me, remember that."

Something flicked across Lou's face, which made the other three demigods wonder exactly what had transpired between her and her mother.

"Fine, I'll do it," she said, "But on one condition. You have to tell me everything. And don't miss out on a single detail, or else I'm withdrawing my offer. Do it, and I'll do what you you want me to."

"Deal," said Hecate, now smiling, "And consider it done."

* * *

 _ **Morpheus's Realm**_

"The Shrine of Nyx? I must say, I have never heard of anything like that. Is it a shrine for the primordial of the Night? I don't think the Protogenoi were ever worshiped, so it doesn't really make sense for her to have a shrine," said Annabeth.

"Oh no! She wasn't worshiped! Who in their right mind would ever do that? No no, that shrine was made by her husband Erebus, as a sort of wedding gift. They were actually married at the altar there," explained Morpheus, "Most people don't know about it though, so it's never used. I think Nyx visits it from time to time and maybe Erebus comes once in a while, but other than that, no one."

"I don't get it. What do you want _us_ to do there?" asked Leo, "From your description, it just sounds like an abandoned place."

"It _is_ and abandoned place. But," Morpheus paused for dramatic effect, "There is a really special treasure over there. If you can get it for me, then I will help you rescue your missing demigod. Percy Jackson, wasn't it? Hey, now that I think about it, he must have been the one causing the interference in my realm!"

"Probably," Grover agreed and then asked Morpheus about the so called treasure, "But what is this treasure? We can't really find it if we don't know what it looks like."

"Of course not," agreed Morpheus, "I would rather have not told you but if you're going to retrieve it, you gotta know what it is."

"So, what is it?" asked Piper, rather annoyed. Instead of beating around the bush, couldn't he just get to the point already?

"It is a goblet, plain and simple. Except that it's made out of solid Imperial gold. I think it also has a patch of celestial bronze somewhere. Anyways, the point is, it's magical, valuable and deadly. It holds powers from all of the Protogenoi, I believe. Simply put, it is a super awesome and powerful kitchen utensil."

"Kitchen utensil? Seriously?" Jason deadpanned, "Why do you want it it anyways?"

"Uh, because it's totally cool and awesome?" Morpheus looked like he was barely restraining himself from saying 'DUH!'

The five heroes face-palmed simultaneously. Morpheus was intolerable. They were all very much tempted to punch him in the face once again but restrained themselves. After all, Morpheus was offering them a sweet deal. Retrieve a goblet in exchange of rescuing Percy. Pfft, easy. It was a great deal and they decided not to question it too much. As the saying went, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Okay, okay," said Grover, "But you should give us something we can contact you with. Sorry, but I am not going through the trouble of finding this place once again."

The others nodded in agreement.

Morpheus fished out a sea shell from nowhere. Holding it in his palm, he chanted a few mantras before handing it to Annabeth.

"Here. If you can concentrate hard enough while holding this in your hand, you'll be able to teleport to my realm. Careful, though, 'cause it will only work once. I suggest you all hold hands while doing this. Otherwise, one of you might be left behind."

Annabeth nodded in understanding.

"But you still haven't told us one thing, Lord Morpheus," she said after she was done inspecting he sea shell, "Just where is this Shrine of Nyx?"

"Ah, right," said Morpheus, "Poor things, you don't know, do you? It's on the very outskirts of Tartarus."

 **There you have it, chapter 14! It was mostly informative and nothing else but it is important to the plot. And besides, you'll be getting plenty of action in the next chapter. And plenty of Percy too! So you better be hyped for it, 'cause otherwise, I'll be cutting out the parts with Percy... Nah, just kidding. I could never do that. It would be bad for my heart and besides, I'm not that cruel. Anyways, I'm out now.**


	15. Chapter 15

**'Sup? Here's chapter 15 for you, along with the promised action and plenty of Percy! Enjoy.**

Chapter 15

 _ **Unknown Location, Somewhere Underground**_

It had been a while since Thalia had woken up. When she had first woken up, she had felt slightly groggy and disoriented but now, the feeling was gone entirely, replaced with awareness. She had also noticed Reyna in the corner, tied up but aware like her. The two had had an eye to eye silent conversation where they had both reached the silent agreement that all of these monsters deserved to be wiped off the face of Earth, and they would do it as soon as the guard fell asleep.

Right now, the two of them were struggling to get free of their bonds. The guard was fast asleep which would have been a really good thing, but since they could not break free from the ropes, it meant next to nothing. Seriously, how were they going to defeat all the monsters if they could not even get out of some ropes? Well, to their defense, the ropes were tight. Extremely so.

"Ugh, this isn't working," said Thalia, along with a string of curses which shall not be repeated. "What the Hades are we supposed to do now?"

Reyna was not listening to her. She was concentrating hard to dig up a memory from the past. During her time with the Blackbeard pirates, Reyna had learned a technique to get free from ropes. What it was, though, she could not remember.

"Let me concentrate," she said, "I know I learned to do this. I just have to remember."

"Well then, do it fast!" said Thalia, "We don't know when the guard is going to get up. And even if the guard didn't get up, there's no guarantee that the other monsters aren't going to come. So whatever you're trying to do, do it fast."

"I'm trying to!" snapped Reyna, "Just let me focus. Your incessant babbling isn't really helping, you know!"

Thalia took a deep breath and decided that it was not worth arguing with Reyna right now. They would have plenty of time for debating later on. Right now, Reyna needed to focus.

After some time, Reyna suddenly jerked up.

"I've got it! I remember what to do. Follow me closely, Thalia, and copy it."

Thalia nodded and started observing as Reyna made a series of relatively tricky hand movements. They were not that hard to follow and Thalia could easily copy Reyna's movements. She made a mental note to herself to remember this technique for future reference.

Within a minute, the two of them were fully free from from their bonds, the ropes lying next to their feet.

The two of them shared a quick look before getting into action. Thalia took out the hunting knives that she always kept concealed beneath her jacket and passed one to Reyna. Reyna examined the knife for a moment before giving a nod of approval. Together, the two of them loomed over the sleeping monster before striking down at the exact same moment.

Poor monster did not even stand a chance. It was over with one strike.

* * *

 _time skip brought to you by Thalia's love for Green Day_

* * *

Reyna took a deep breath and counted to ten to calm her heart down. She could hear the footsteps of the monsters getting nearer and nearer. She and Thalia had been hiding in the same spot since killing the guard, waiting to ambush the remaining monsters as soon as they arrived. Although Reyna knew that she and Thalia were more than a match for those monsters, she could not relinquish her nervousness or excitement.

Thalia was shaking slightly, but it was not from nervousness. It was from thrill. Being the lieutenant of the hunt, Thalia had experiences loads of battles and along with it, the thrill that came from fighting. She could almost see why Ares liked war so much. It gave a thrill unlike any other.

Glancing sideways, Thalia could see the shadows of the approaching monsters. They were getting closer and closer. Just a bit more, and the monsters would be within their fighting range. And then, they would launch their ambush. Thalia and Reyna were both leagues above those monsters and were more than capable of taking then out without breaking a sweat, but it was always good to have the element of surprise on their side.

The monsters were now closer than ever and they could make out their conversations. They seemed to be laughing about something, probably something related to their Lords, Tartarus and Erebus.

The moment the monsters got within their range, they instinctively knew what to do. Reyna's soft whisper of "Now!" wasn't really needed but she gave it anyway and Thalia immediately sprang into action.

Expertly wielding dual hunting knives in her hand, Thalia mercilessly attacked the horde of monsters. It was slightly harder for Reyna who had never fought with hunting knives before but she managed to wield it perfectly after a few tries, thanks to her natural telumkinesis as a daughter of Bellona. They were an unstoppable force. The monsters were taken by surprise and thus, failed to react in time, causing their deaths. They did not even know what hit them because before they could work out what was happening, they had all been wiped out.

Panting slightly, Thalia polished her hunting knives and concealed them beneath her jacket. Reyna decided to keep one with her just in case they were attacked.

"So, looks like they're all out of commission," said Reyna, "Where to now?"

In response, Thalia shrugged. "Let's find our way out of this place first. Then we'll see."

* * *

 _ **Camp Half-Blood**_

Clarisse let out a battle cry as she shocked yet another monster with her deadly spear Maimer, which is also often called Lamer behind her back. It was a replica of her original Maimer, which had been destroyed in battle a long time ago and which also used to be called Lamer, just like its successor.

Clarisse was getting extremely annoyed. What the heck was these monsters' deal? They were all extremely puny, they could barely fight against the younger campers. So why would these sort of wimpy be sent to fight the campers of camp half-blood which included plenty of war veterans like Clarisse herself? Huh. The Protogenoi must be dumber than she had thought.

Sure, there were injured campers and a few were even dead, but on the whole, the campers were doing relatively well. Most monsters could not even get past the traps set on the camp borders by the Stoll brothers, and those that did were instantly killed by someone from the Ares cabin. Most often, by Clarisse herself.

Clarisse decided to ponder over her questions later on and focused on fighting the monsters. All the monsters seemed to have realized by now that Clarisse was not someone they wanted to mess with and they kept well out of her way. Oh well, that was just as good, because Clarisse was getting extremely annoyed fighting these wimpy monsters.

The monsters looked like they were just about to surrender when a new mob of monsters suddenly appeared.

These monsters definitely were not going to be getting any brownie points from the Aphrodite cabin but Clarisse, being from the Ares cabin, had to acknowledge their strength. Thy were extremely agile and they were taking campers faster than they could keep track.

Clarisse found herself grinning.

Finally. A challenge, at last.

* * *

 _ **Nyx's Realm**_

Percy's head pounded.

His nightmares were getting increasingly worse, and every time, it was the same thing. Annabeth. Death. Blood. Himself. Annabeth. Death.

Percy took a deep breath to calm himself down. He had just, once again, woken up from that same nightmare. No matter how much he told himself that it was not true, that it was just a nightmare and nothing else, it never seemed to stop. And every time, it seemed to get more and more realistic until he could differentiate between that dream and the place where was currently at.

( Was it even possible to have dreams when you were already, literally living one? Percy decided that it must be, otherwise, why would he keep having that nightmare? He wasn't quite ready to believe the other explanation yet. _A demigod dream. A vision._ )

Percy rid himself of these thoughts and decided to check what Nyx was doing.

Nyx was sitting on a couch, messing with some red liquid. For a moment, Percy was suspicious that it might be blood but he quickly dismissed that thought. After all, how could Nyx possibly get blood in here? Unless Nyx was secretly draining blood from Percy in his 'sleep', he could not think of any ways.

As soon as she noticed him, she grinned, gesturing for him to join her. Reluctantly, Percy did so. He kept as much distance from her as possible, though. He knew that Nyx wanted to be close to him as possible, so Percy liked to be a little rebellious in these small ways. His rebellious streak had disappeared by no means. He was still just as impertinent as before.

"Hey, Jackson, do you wanna hear a story?" Nyx asked, her voice playful but expression strangely sentimental.

Percy immediately grew suspicious. Nyx never called him Jackson. If she was doing that now, it could not mean anything but trouble.

"Uh, why do you ask?" Percy asked neutrally, trying not to sound too suspicious. But knowing himself, Percy knew that he had somehow failed miserably.

But Nyx did not seem to have taken any notice of Percy's slip up. She was lost in her own world.

"Hey Percy, do you know why I married Erebus?" Nyx suddenly asked.

Percy was startled by this question. No, of course he did not know why Nyx had married Erebus. Was he even supposed to? What kind of question was that?

"No. I don't," said Percy bluntly.

"I see. Then I'll tell you the story about my marriage."

Percy could not see how that was possibly relevant to him. But Annabeth always used to tell him that he should always learn everything he could about his enemy, so he did not say anything.

Nyx continued, "It started like this..."

 **That's it, folks. Next chapter is a special where you get to know about Nyx and Erebus and their wedding. And the Shrine of Nyx, too. It will be the very first special chapter of the story but it would certainly not be the last. The specials would probably be a little different from my usual writing style but I hope you'll like it. abSoLUte234bBq out.**


	16. Special I

**Here it is! The special! I don't know about you but I'm rather excited for this. The reason I call it a special is because it takes place in a different timeline than the rest of the story. More specifically, it the cliche villain backstory which any good story would not do without. It's not meant for you to sympathize with them but for you to understand why they turned out as they did.**

 **P. S : Let's pretend that primordials have red blood, okay?**

Special I : Nyx's Memories

 _F_ _irst love isn't always the charm, but she doesn't know it at that time._

When she first meets him, she is absolutely enchanted by him. His gentlemanly attitude, his handsome features and that devilish smirk. He is the very embodiment of perfection, she thinks. Absolutely perfect for her. Night and Darkness. What better a combination?

Or so she thinks, anyway. They are perfect for each other.

She finds him to be completely enticing and is absolutely infatuated with him. But can you blame her? He is perfect, after all. She likes him a lot, and she is sure he likes her back. Why wouldn't he? Surely, he also knew that they were the perfect match. Night and Darkness. Nyx and Erebus.

She has her whole future planned out with him and she does not doubt for a moment that they might not end up together. It is bliss.

( It is a calm before the storm, but the storm would not hit until much, much later. )

* * *

 _It grows into an obsession, but she is too blind to realize._

Years pass with neither of them doing anything to further their relationship. Her love for him only grows at that time, until it is just an obsession. She grows frustrated sometimes when he does not ask her out, but she is confident that it will happen soon. He likes her, definitely. Why else would he bother to greet her at every council meeting when he ignores everyone else, and why else would he bother to show up at every one of her little parties when no one else does?

There is only one explanation. Ananke, the primordial goddess of fate and inevitability, sends them knowing smiles and Chronos does not bother to hide his smile when he sees them interact, which only serves to convince her even more.

As years go by, she realizes that he would not ask her out anytime soon, so she decides to take matters into her own hands and ask _him_ out. She asks Ananke's advise and when she tells her to go ahead, she is overjoyed.

( She doesn't notice how Ananke's smile falters when she talks about him, and she does not see her fist clench and shake. She does not know that at that time, the only thing going through Ananke's mind is, _G_ _o ahead. Go ahead to your own doom. It is inevitable anyways._ )

She is ecstatic. She knows he will accept if she asks him out.

She asks. He says yes.

* * *

 _She does everything she can to keep the spark alive but in the end, the flame dies out.  
_

Another decade goes by. The two of them are still together but none of them take the initiative to take their relationship further. She continues to grow more and more frustrated but she can't bring herself to tell him. he has been the one who asked him first. She wants him to be the one to propose.

He continues to grow more and more distant and she can't do anything to go back to the way it was. She tries taking him to dates but every time, he has a new excuse. He never seems to have any time for her. She hates it. She hates how they have become. How they are now.

Suddenly, they don't seem to be quite as perfect anymore.

Still, she tries to keep their flame blazing but he only seems intent on letting it die. She does not want that. She does not want _this._

But she can't bring herself to let go. Her love for him is like a disease. She claws at her throat and tries to rid herself of this obsession, but no matter what she tries, she can't cure herself.

* * *

 _The flame returns, if just a little bit, and she allows herself to hope once more._

Just as she is about to give up, he surprises her with a late night visit. He beckons for her to come, to escape and have an adventure for the night, with just the two of them, and she can't resist.

The two of them leave and have a great night together. Things are strained between them but, just for a moment, she allows herself to think that everything is alright, just the way it was before.

So what if he has been distant? It is okay. Everything will be alright. She knows they will be okay this time.

Even if it is for a short time.

* * *

 _"Will you marry me?" he says. "Yes," she says._

It finally happens. The thing she has been waiting for. A marriage proposal.

To say she is ecstatic would be an understatement. She is beyond happy. It is the absolute best day of her life. She has known all along that this would happen sooner or later but now that it actually happens, she cannot contain her excitement.

But of course, someone has to ruin it for her. Tartarus.

She has mixed feelings about Tartarus. Tartarus is ominous, mysterious and no matter what she tries, she can't figure him out. But she does not think he is necessarily a bad person. Which is why she agrees to go with him when he asks her to join him in his night stroll.

She is feeling uncomfortable but she does not say so. She does not want to be here. She wants to be with her fiance. Not his brother. Taking a stroll with Tartarus feels too intimate, and she feels guilty although she knows she has done nothing wrong. She feels as if she is cheating.

Tartarus seems to know what is going on in her mind. He does not say anything but she is sure he knows. He sends her a dark, ominous smile which makes her shudder.

( She does not know what Tartarus knows. If she did, she would laugh little and cry a lot. )

Nothing happens between them. But by the time she leaves, she feels as though she has done something very wrong. That night, she dreams of Tartarus. And in the morning, she loathes herself for it.

Erebus is the only one for her. But ever since that night, she continues to have dreams not of him, but of his brother. It is wrong, she knows. But she can't help it. Can't help but slowly get tangled in this mess.

And the problem? She does not even know what this mess is.

* * *

 _"What is it?" "A shrine." "For whom?" "For you."_

The wedding date is decided and everyone congratulates them for it. She does not think she has ever been this happy before in her life. She does, however, think she is going to be plenty more happy later on.

She is proven correct. A week before their marriage, he gives her an early wedding gift. It is an odd gift, she thinks, but she loves it nonetheless. It is a shrine, a magnificent one. It is so beautiful that she can't even find any words to describe it. It is simply breathtaking.

"We will get married here," he tells her, pointing to the altar at the middle of the shrine. At that moment, she is overcome with emotion.

"Yes," she nods. She does not see Ananke's look of pity or Tartarus's amused smirk. She is way too preoccupied to care.

* * *

 _This will be my wedding dress, because the red reminds me of my (foolish, childish)love, the black serves as a reminder for what you did, and the white represents the blank space in my heart which will never be filled. The tears never fall from my eyes, and the temporary numbness becomes permanent.  
_

She waits at the altar at the day of their wedding. She is looking absolutely stunning in her gorgeous dress designed by Gaia. She knows that none of the other Protogenoi are going to appear, and she is fine with it. All she needs is him.

He doesn't show up, though. She wonders what is keeping him so long.

She keep on waiting. He still doesn't show up.

So, she waits.

* * *

And waits.

* * *

And waits.

* * *

And she still keeps on waiting. He does not show up. Erebus is never late to anything, unless he is not going to come.

The realization hits her like a ton of bricks. He is not going to show up. He is not going to show up.

But still, she waits and waits, trying to convince herself that he still might show up. But he does not come. He never comes. She keeps on waiting the whole night but he does not appear.

He will not show up, she knows it by now. She expects tears to fall from her eyes. She expects to feel betrayed and angry and heartbroken. But she feels none of these.

The only thing she feelings is a cold burning fury and the intense desire for revenge. All she sees is red. And before she knows it, her neck and hands are bloody from clawing at her own throat, and her beautiful black and white wedding gown is marred with red.

 _This is good,_ she thinks, _This is how my wedding gown should be._ A bizarre combination of black and white and red, torn edges and blood stains. Perfectly representing her own mixed emotions.

* * *

Erebus does not show up, but Tartarus does. He tells her that Erebus is busy and that is probably why he did not come. But she is not listening. Being busy is no excuse to show someone up on their wedding.

Days pass, and her fury slowly goes down a little. And that is when he shows up. He tells her that he is sorry that he could not make it. She says it's fine, but really, it is not. None of it is. But when he asks her to arrange the marriage once again, she finds herself unable to refuse.

So their marriage is set up once again. But this time, she has something in mind.

* * *

The day of their rescheduled wedding arrives and she goes to the shrine wearing her previous wedding dress. Stained with blood, cut and torn, that is the dress which describes her feelings of their wedding. He is clearly surprised to see it, but he does not comment.

This time, their wedding goes smoothly. But it does nothing to fill up the hole that has formed in her heart.

He gives her a proper wedding gift this time. A beautiful goblet made of all the different kinds of precious metal. It makes her heart swell for a moment but then she is reminded that all beautiful things have an ugly side. All roses have thorns.

But this goblet did not seem to have any. It is too perfect. It has no ugly side to it at all. So she decides to give it one.

When all the Protogenoi are done blessing it, she curses it. Curses it so that it would bring bad luck to anyone who inherits it in the future. They would feel the same pain that she felt.

This goblet would serve as a reminder of her relationship with her husband. So very beautiful and seemingly perfect on the outside, but ugly on the inside.

She never outright says it, but she makes sure that he knows exactly what this goblet represents. She has suffered because of him and this is her way of taking revenge, however small.

* * *

 _Their eras end, but her hatred doesn't, her curse doesn't. Her hatred for the world burns stronger than ever. Her cursed goblet lies in wait at the Shrine of Nyx. She hates everything and everyone having a remotely happy marriage._

 _And then those pesky gods come along, living happy and cheerful lives. She wants nothing more than to get rid of them._

 _And so, her plan to overthrow them unfolds._

 **Whooh! That was hard work. This is the longest thing I have written so far and I'm not sure exactly how it turned out, but I hope it's okay. And now we get to know that Erebus and Tartarus aren't the only ones with family issues, Nyx is in on this too. A three way family feud! Ares would be crying with joy, if he wasn't too busy fighting them! See ya later.  
**


	17. Chapter 16

**Here I am, with chapter 16. Guess who's feeling like doing some romantic shit? Me. Yes, I was feeling romantic when I wrote this, so expect there to be romance. Not much, since it's not my genre but it's more than usual. No Percabeth unfortunately 'cause they have not been reunited yet. There's also action, because Clarisse is in the mood to kick some ass. Anyways, let's get on with it.**

Chapter 16

 _ **Nyx's Realm**_

"...and that's why, Percy, I'm doing all of this. You understand, don't you? You also have someone you love, no? That blonde girl, what's her name? How would you feel if she did to you what Erebus did to me?"

Percy felt sick to his stomach. He had never even considered the possibility of _having_ a marriage, let alone being shown up at it, because he had never really thought he would survive long enough to. Sure, he could see what Erebus had done was wrong. But what he hated more, was Nyx's twisted ideology that she had to destroy everything just because she was jealous of how the Olympians were so happy. Even being cheerful was considered a crime nowadays, what do you know? Jealousy is a nasty emotion.

"No, I don't understand you at all. And Annabeth would never do that to me. Not everyone is a jerk like your husband, and even if he _is_ a total jerk-face and did some unforgivable things to you, that's all _your_ business, isn't it? Why the Hades are you dragging everyone else into it? Also, isn't bazillions of years a bit too long to be holding some petty grudge?" said Percy.

Percy knew that whatever moral lesson he had just given to Nyx would just enter through one ear and leave through the other. But still, he had to do it. Nyx's mindset was disgusting. _She_ was disgusting.

Nyx looked enraged at Percy's words. But there was also something else in her face. Something akin to.. disappointment?

"I see. So, you don't agree with me," said Nyx, her voice so cold that it almost made Percy shiver, "Such a shame. And here I was thinking I might actually spare your life if you joined my side."

Subconsciously, Percy shivered. What did Nyx mean? Did she actually think that he was going to join her? And besides, Percy knew her. She would not hesitate to stab his back as soon as he turned around, ally or not.

Percy was about to fire something back but Nyx beat him to it.

"Don't, Percy. Just don't. Don't even think about thinking that you could escape from me. Don't think I'm going to let you off the hook, after you said something like that to me? Do you know who I am? What I can do?" Her voice grew with every word until she was screaming at him.

Again, Percy tried to speak. But just as he was about to say something, Nyx thrust out her left hand and gripped his chin. She brought his face closer to hers and leaned to his side until her lips were almost touching his ear. He could feel her breath on his neck, which made him shiver once again. What the Hades was she doing?

"You could have been so valuable to ma as an asset," Nyx whispered into his ear, "But sigh, you chose not to be. Why did you do that, Percy? Why do you fight for them Olympians? What have they ever done for you?"

There were millions of things Percy could have said. He wanted to tell her because, although they could be very insufferable sometimes, they were still a gazillion times better rulers than the Protogenoi. He wanted to tell her because it was the right thing to do. But as Nyx's long fingers trailed down face and her sharp nails dug into his neck, he could only choke out,

"They're my family."

Nyx let out a harsh laugh. "Family? Don't make me laugh, Percy Jackson. Family! Don't you know that families are always the worst? Families are dysfunctional. Everyone pretends that they love each other when in truth, there's no one else that they loathe more. So much vendetta. Every war, everything starts because families betray each other. Families aren't the oh so perfect thing that you think. Just look at how _my_ 'family' turned out!"

Percy remembered a time when he was twelve years old, when Ares had told him that a war between relatives was the best kind of war. That was proving to be sort of true, if a three way feud between crazy over-powered Primordials could be counted as good. That should not be possible, even in Ares's dictionary.

Percy heard Nyx sigh and immediately jerked away from her. Nyx looked at him with a sad face.

"I'm sorry, Percy. I really am." And with that, Nyx unleashed her shadows at him. Caught by surprise, Percy yelped and jumped to evade the attack. But Nyx's shadows were fast. Too fast. They shot upwards and wrapped themselves around his ankles, making him trip and hit the ground face-first.

Nyx raised her hands, and darkness enveloped the whole landscape. Shadows emerged from her whole body and wrapped around Percy. He tried to scream, but the shadows wrapped around his neck, choking him.

"Oh look! The day's gone already!" Nyx said, feigning surprise, before directing a cruel smirk to Percy's way, "Nighty night, Percy Jackson."

All Percy could do was squirm under the pressure and pray, _Somebody find me please._

* * *

 _ **Camp Half-Blood**_

Clarisse was having the time of her life.

These lizard-hedgehog monster thingies were giving her just the challenge that she craved. She hadn't had this much fun fighting anyone since Prissy disappeared. No one really gave her much of a challenge except for Annabeth, and she was always too busy moping over Percy. The other Big 3 children also never had time to spar.

These monsters were strangely competent and they fought rather well too. Clarisse was going to take her sweet time finishing them off. Someone who could give her a good fight deserved at least some respect. And she was giving it to them in the form of a slow, torturous death.

One monster howled, ans all the others immediately followed. Pretty soon, all the monsters in the battlefield were howling like wolves.

Clarisse was confused but she did not let her guard down. his could be their way of communicating battle tactics, for all she knew. This could be some sort of signal to start attacking all together.

Just as she had suspected, as soon as their howling stopped, they attacked all together. And they attacked Clarisse.

In a way, Clarisse was glad that all their attention was on her. In that way, no one else would have to get hurt. But seeing all these monsters approaching her together, her confidence deflated a bit. Sure, she was more than capable of taking these monsters out individually, but all together.. she wasn't too sure.

Clarisse readied herself for the attack and started fighting them. She kicked, she parried, she blocked, she attacked. he electrocuted some of them with Maimer and stabbed the others. All in all, she was doing pretty good, but it was starting to take a strain on her. She was not sure for how much longer she could hold out. She was starting to tire.

The monsters seemed to sense that Clarisse was getting weaker. The let out a deafening roar and charged once again. This time, Clarisse reacted a bit too late, causing her to get clawed at the ribs. She let out a cry, but did not give up. When the next attack came, she managed to duck in time. But luck was not on her side. Just as she was about to counterattack, a monster snuck in from behind, and pounded on her head.

Letting out a sort of strangled noise, Clarisse fell to the ground. She did not notice the monster that was approaching her, planning to take advantage of her current state to land a critical hit. She did not notice it until it was too late. The monster had already struck.

Instinctively, Clarisse braced herself for impact. But the impact never came. Slowly, she opened her eyes, only to see Chris standing in front of her, holding off the monster.

Never in her life had she ever felt more grateful. She was immensely grateful to Chris for saving her life, and seeing him bravely fight off the monster to defend her, Clarisse was reminded of why she fell in love with him in the first place. It was like she was falling in love with him all over again.

Chris turned to face her. "You could ask for help if you're having trouble, you know."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "I wasn't having any trouble. You just decided to barge in for no reason."

Chris grinned. "Oh, your life being in danger isn't reason enough?"

Clarisse was about to retort something snarky but her words soon died in her throat because as soon as she looked over Chris's shoulders, she noticed that the monster was going to strike at him. She only wasted a fraction of a second in yelling "Duck!" to Chris, before getting into a fighting position and running the monster through with her electric spear.

"Who's saving who again?" Clarisse mocked as she extended a hand to Chris. Chris took it, grinning crookedly. Without having to say anything, they knew what the other was thinking right now, what they had to do. They positioned themselves back-to-back and held their weapons in a fighting stance.

"Let's kick some monster ass."

* * *

Calypso sighed deeply.

She wished she had more combat experience so that she could help out in the fight. But such was not the case. Although Leo liked to say that her slaps and punches hurt like Hades, they were hardly of any use when it came to actual combat.

So, for the time being, she was stuck in the infirmary, helping out Will Solace and Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Will was completely focused on treating the injured and Rachel had assumed an air of indifference, so none of them could see her reluctance. Or at least, she thought so. But it turned out that Rachel and Will were much more observant than they let on.

"You're regretting something," stated Rachel, "You can tell us what's bothering you, you know."

Rachel sounded concerned for her, which made her feel slightly guilty. Here she was, supposed to be helping others recover, lamenting her own weakness. She was not the one who deserved the concern. But ever since Leo had left on the quest, Calypso had been finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on her work. She supposed she could tell Rachel, as they had a sort of understanding between them, both having had a crush on Percy at some point.

"I just- I wish I could be more useful," she said.

Rachel nodded in understanding and Will smiled at her kindly.

"You are being useful," said Will, "Even if you can't be out there doing real combat, you can still help from the sidelines. By treating the injured and believing in our friends."

"But that's-"

"-not enough?" said Will, "But it's really more than enough, isn't it? You're doing everything you can. We are _all_ doing everything we can. It's okay to easy on yourself sometimes."

 _But I just feel so useless,_ she wanted to say, but Rachel beat her to it.

"There's nothing wrong in not being on the front lines all the time. I mean, look at me, I'm supposed to be the Oracle of Delphi and I haven't issued a single damn prophecy in five years! You can't possibly get anymore useless than me, and you don't see me moping over it."

Calypso smiled at Rachel's words. But still, she felt sad. If Leo had been here, she would have felt infinitely better. She wanted to have him by her side, telling her that everything was alright, calling her that annoying nickname Sunshine. But she supposed it was selfish to feel that way. Lots of people had lost their significant others in the war, she was lucky that hers was still alive. She thought of Will who must have been going through a lot too, what with Nico being gone and all. And then there was Annabeth, who hadn't seen Percy for way too long.

All of these people were going through a lot, but none had snapped yet. Not like her. It showed just how strong they were. Their strength, their belief in their friends, lovers. Thinking of these people, Calypso felt somewhat ashamed, but she was also filled with a newfound resolve. She would also be strong, and she would help them in any way possible. She chose to believe that Leo would return, safe and sound, with all of their friends.

Filled with newly found determination, Calypso gave a bright smile to Will and Rachel, and began to work.

 **There, done. That's chapter 16, folks. Next chap, we'll go back to the quests. Hmm, I wonder what our two rescue parties are doing? We'll get to know soon enough, but for that, you have to be patient. See ya next chap, people. Oh, and leave a Review, would you? It's not that hard!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello, folks. I apologize in advance for the shortness of this chapter. I have been really busy this week and did not get time to write. Again, sorry. Let's get on with the chapter.**

Chapter 17

 _ **Unnamed Sweets Shop**_

Hazel was feeling extremely nervous.

They -the Thanatos Rescue Team- had just told Lou Ellen about everything that was going on. Lou had listened to them with a greedy ear and had asked for some time to herself to think about everything she had just been told. Although they tried to tell her that they were really short on time, Lou had not listened. Hazel was nervous about what her verdict would be. She knew that Lou had agreed to help them if they told her the whole story, but she could not help the inkling of doubt and distrust that kept gnawing at her stomach.

Frank seemed to sense her discomfort. He squeezed her hand and gave her a small but reassuring smile. The gesture was small but it was sincere and enough to get Hazel in a better mood.

Hazel glanced at her half-brother Nico. His face was impassive, making it unable for her to guess exactly what he was thinking. Hazel was slightly worried about him. Out of the three of them, Nico had known Lou Ellen the best. She could only wonder what his feelings were about the whole situation. She, at least, had Frank with her, but Nico... He had not seen Will for a long time. He had not even said a proper goodbye to him before leaving.

Hazel steeled her resolve. She could not afford to be scared or unsure. Not now. Not ever.

The door to Lou's room, which had been locked until now, opened, and out stepped a somewhat disoriented but determined Lou Ellen. She curled her fist and made her way to Hecate. Hecate's face was expressionless, but Lou was looking at her with defiance.

"I'll help," she said, "But I just want to know one thing before I do that."

"What is it?" asked Hecate, her eyes narrowed. She did not say anything else, but the words hung heavy in the air. _Don't cross the line._

"Why is it that you, an all-powerful goddess, needs the help of a mere half-blood like me to get them to Alaska? Can't you get them there with a swish of your wand, or some other magic shit?"

"Don't be foolish!" Hecate scoffed, "It's _because_ I'm a goddess that I can't help directly! The Ancient Laws forbid the immortals from directly interfering with the business of demigods and mortals. You should be grateful that I even guided you this much. How can you possibly expect me to bend millennia old rules to my own liking? If only it were that easy!"

Lou breathed in sharply. It was clear that she did not like the tone Hecate was using to address her.

"Fine, don't help. I understand. But there's one last thing that you have to let me do."

Hecate looked thoroughly annoyed. "Another request? You said it was to be only one request, now you're asking for a third one?"

Lou shrugged. "Third time's the charm, they say."

Hecate sighed before giving in. "Very well, tell me what your request is. But I can't promise I will grant it. It depends on what request you make."

Lou Ellen grinned. "I want to accompany them on the quest."

* * *

 _ **Morpheus's Realm**_

 _The outskirts of Tartarus. The outskirts of Tartarus._ _The outskirts of Tartarus._

Morpheus's words kept ringing in Annabeth's head. The outskirts of Tartarus. The Shrine of Nyx was on the outskirts of Tartarus. Tartarus, a place which she loathed with all of her being. A place that had left both her and Percy mentally scarred for life. It was ironic, really, that she had to go to that very same place in order to save him.

Annabeth had never thought that she would have to go anywhere near Tartarus ever again. But here she was being told that if she did not go there, she would never be able to save Percy. She almost felt like laughing at the irony of the whole situation.

The others kept sending her concerned looks. She pretended not to see but she was fully aware of them. _Pity._ They pitied her. What they did not understand, was that she did not need to be pitied. She did not _want_ be pitied. She was not weak. No, Annabeth Chase was anything but weak. Sure, there were times when her walls fell down and she cried, but only Percy Jackson was allowed to see them. Right now was not one of those times. Right now, she absolutely could not afford to be weak. Especially not when Percy's life was on the line.

Back then, Percy had held on to her, even though he had known that they would fall into Tartarus. Would Annabeth let him go now? No, absolutely not. He had held on to her the first time, there was no way she was going to let go of him now.

Percy came first. Always. First and foremost.

Tartarus be damned.

Annabeth was going to save Percy, and if that meant she would have to venture to Tartarus, then so be it. She would scale anything in her way, be it a Protogenos or just a minor monster. She was going to get to the Shrine of Nyx, and retrieve her goblet. Anything to save Percy. Anything.

 _I'm coming for you, Seaweed Brain. So, you better wait for me._

 **Done. I wrote it all in under one hour, give or take 15 mins, which is a personal record for me. I know it was short and cheesy but deal with it for now, okay? It'll get better in the next chapter, I promise. Please leave a review or something, 'cause that's what encourages me to continue this story. See ya all later. I'm out now.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hiya, fellas! I am finally getting some time to myself to write and since the last chapter was so short, I made sure to make this chapter extra long. I love everyone, so please love this in return, 'Kay? Alright, let's get on with it.**

Chapter 18

 _ **With Thalia and Reyna**_

Thalia was getting tired of walking around aimlessly. Ever since they had defeated the monsters, they had been roaming around the place, taking different routes every time, hoping that one of them would lead to the exit. But so far, their efforts had proved to be fruitless. This place was a freaking maze! Thalia was starting to think that maybe it was part of the Labyrinth or something.

"OK, this is getting us nowhere," said Thalia, crossing her arms, "We need a strategy. Wandering around like this is doing a fat load of good to us, it is. If you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm, by the way."

Reyna turned around and gave her an exasperated look. "And standing here, arguing, is going to get us out of here now, would it?"

Thalia flushed. It was not like she had anything against Reyna particularly. But right now, she was getting frustrated and she needed to vent it out on someone. The Hunters were all used to it so she never had a problem before. But clearly, Reyna was going to take none of that.

"I suppose you have a very good plan. So, why don't you tell me?" said Reyna, raising an eyebrow.

Thalia gritted her teeth. Why was Reyna so determined to be absolutely _impossible?_ Couldn't she see that Thalia was already in a bad mood? And Thalia had never been one to be able to control her temper. The only who could was probably Percy. Lady Artemis had told Thalia that a rescue team would be sent to find Percy. Had they already started their quest?

The thought of Percy being found calmed her down a little. She knew exactly what she was going to do with him when he returned. First, she was going to punch the hell out of him. And then, give him the biggest hug imaginable.

Reyna raised an eyebrow at Thalia's sudden change of demeanor.

"What are you thinking? Got any ideas about how to get out of here?"

Thalia took a deep breath. She clutched the silver pendant of her necklace. It had been given to Thalia by Lady Artemis a few years ago. Thalia had been told that it had some special powers but Artemis had refused to tell her exactly what it was.

 _You'll know it when the time is right,_ Artemis had said, _But before that, don't try to use it._

Somewhere within Thalia, she knew that it was the right time. Her hand clutched it as if it was her life source and she felt power rush through her veins. Instantly, her mind cleared and she could feel the raw, otherworldly power bubbling up inside her. A godly power. Lady Artemis's power.

Suddenly, Thalia knew exactly what she had to do to get out of this place.

"An escape device," breathed Thalia, "Brilliant, Milady. Absolutely brilliant."

Reyna gave her a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

Thalia smirked and turned around with an air of confidence. "I know exactly where to go and where it will lead us. So just follow me."

Reyna was still puzzled. "I don't understand. How-"

"It's okay. Just follow me. We," said Thalia, "are going to Camp Jupiter."

* * *

 _Time skip brought to you by Nyx's secret love for kittens  
_

* * *

 _ **Camp Jupiter**_

Gwen was feeling extremely stressed. With the absence of both the Praetors of Rome, all of their responsibilities, for some unknown reason, had been pushed onto her. Gwen just wanted to sit back and relax, but what with the war going on, that was definitely out of the question.

But once in a while, it was important to relax and take things easy for a bit. So, Gwen had decided to take a day off and let someone else handle the duties for a while. Too bad Fortuna did not seem to be on her side.

Just as Gwen was retreating to her room, a younger member of the Legion rushed towards her. It was a boy of probably thirteen or fourteen. Gwen did not remember his name but she could faintly recall his face from the war games.

"Miss Praetor! Miss Praetor!" The boy shouted.

"Ah, I'm not really the praetor, see.."

"Wait, you're not?" The boy seemed confused, "If it's not you, then who is it?"

"Well, out Praetors aren't present here at the moment. Is there something wrong? You can tell me, you know."

The boy chewed the inside of his cheek. "But my sister told me to get the Praetor..."

Gwen smiled at him. "It's okay. Tell me, what's wrong? What happened?"

The boy scrunched his eyebrows and made some wild gestures with his hands.

"There's something going on at the northern borders. The ground... is splitting? I don't know, it's something like that. Like an earthquake, I guess? No, no not like that. That ground is just.. splitting on it's own. As if, as if... It's making way for something. And smoke. There's lots and lots of smoke. And... Wind? Lightning? Ugh, I can't describe it. Just please come and take a look!"

Gwen was perplexed. What was the boy even saying? It did not make any sense. The ground splitting? Smoke? Wind? Lightning? She was starting to question the boy's sanity. But just in the off chance that something like that was actually happening, Gwen decided to go with him and take a look.

"Alright, take me there," she said. She picked up her weapon, just in case there were any hostile forces present.

The boy nodded and started running towards the northern border. Gwen also took off behind him. They ran towards the northern border so fast that it almost seemed as if their lives depended on it. As soon as they reached their destination, Gwen could see what the problem was.

It was... just as the boy had described. There was smoke everywhere, and the wind was blowing unnaturally harshly. And.. were those sparks? Of electricity? Wow, this was probably the most unimaginable thing that Gwen had ever seen. Cautiously, she stepped forward. And then she saw what the real problem was. The ground was magically coming apart, as if forming a hole in the earth. It was a horrifying scenery, yet Gwen found herself unable to take her eyes off of it.

Gwen watched with wide eyes, as the hole in the earth became bigger and bigger. The others around her were also in a similar state, eyes wide and mouth gaping like fishes. Gwen noticed that it was getting slower and she could tell that it would stop soon. The wind had now calmed down and the sparks had stopped coming.

As the smoke around the place started clearing up, Gwen could make out two figures coming out of the hole in the ground. Immediately, her warrior instincts kicked in and she raised her weapon. Following her, all the others raised their weapons as well. Gwen held her breath and waited.

The smoke cleared up a bit more and now, Gwen could make out there appearances. They were both girls. One had short dark hair and was dressed in black and silver. The other had had long, braided dark hair and she donned a regal armor and was wearing...

"Stop it! Lower you weapons right now!" The long haired girl ordered and as the smoke cleared up completely, it became apparent the this was none other than their Praetor, Reyna. Her purple Praetor's cape was flying and her eyes were blazing with determination and something akin to... joy?

Gwen was the first to drop her weapon. She threw it to the ground and rushed towards her friend, enveloping her in a hug.

"Oh thank Jupiter, Reyna, you're OK! We were so worried when we heard from Camp Half-Blood that you disappeared! I am so, so, so glad that you're alive! Gods, a Praetor's duties are so hard, how do you handle it?"

Reyna gave a soft chuckle. "I'm glad to be back too," she said, "Now would you mind getting off of me? This is no way to treat your Praetor."

Gwen grinned before letting her go. She still did not quite understand exactly what had just transpired in front of them and she was definitely going to pester Reyna about it until she told her, but that was all for a later date. Right now, she was just glad to have her friend back.

* * *

 _ **Depths of Tartarus**_

Tartarus sipped his coffee with an angry scowl.

That attack on Camp Half-Blood was supposed to end with the destruction of the whole camp, not with the destruction of his monsters. The result of that fight had been absolutely infuriating. Tartarus could just feel the smirk that Erebus was undoubtedly directing his way at the moment, because of his failure.

What should he do now? Attack the other camp? No, no, that would not work. He needed a different strategy. Launching straightforward attacks were going to take him nowhere. He needed a plan. A solid strategy. Otherwise, he had no hopes of winning.

Tartarus absolutely hated taking help from others. But at this point, he could not see any other option. He would have to call in some favors. Some favors from... outside sources.

He sighed and took another sip of his coffee. The person he was planning to meet with would undoubtedly be hostile and not very friendly. He would have to work out some strategy on how to convince them to help him. Or else, he could just forget about winning this war.

Now that was not an acceptable alternative, was it? No, there was no way he was going to lose. Not to Erebus. Not to Nyx. And certainly not to the Olympians.

Tartarus sighed for the umpteenth time before getting up. He had a meeting to get ready for.

But when he was halfway through his plan of convincing them to form an alliance with him, he stopped and returned to his coffee table. He knew that Erebus was going to drop by at some point. Therefore, he decided to leave a gift for him.

Tartarus bit his finger hard enough to draw blood and then started writing on the coffee table.

 _The game is on._

 _ \- T_

 **And that's it, people. This is not edited or beta read or anything, so there are probably mistakes, which I profoundly apologize for. Next chapter, we'll go back to the quests to see what our two rescue parties are doing. Oh, and would you guys like some romance? If you want, I could put in some moments between Jasper and Frazel, and Tratie might get together. But all of that depends on you. You could tell me in the reviews or you could IM- sorry PM me too. Until next time ;)  
**


	20. Chapter 19

**Sigh. No one gives me any reviews these days. That's really disappointing, you know? I am expecting everyone to review after this chapter, so don't shatter my expectations. Now, on with the story.**

Chapter 19

 _ **Olympian Council**_

Artemis was arguing with Apollo about getting is priorities straight when suddenly, she doubled over, clutching her stomach in pain.

Apollo looked at her with concern. It was not everyday that Artemis, of all people, suddenly lost her footing over stomach aches. If it had been any other time, Apollo would have made a mental note to tease her about it later on, but these were dire times. Not the time for pranks and teasing, which was exactly what Artemis had been trying to tell him just until a moment ago.

Artemis glared at Apollo when he bent down to take a better look at her and swatted away his hand when he tried to offer her a hand to get up. It was not like she needed any help. And she certainly did not need the help of her vain brother. Besides, this pain was not exactly hostile, she could tell. It was not any outwardly damage and definitely not food poisoning either. No, it was different.

It was as if something was pulling at her, tugging at her gut. No, it was not pulling _her_ , it was pulling her _power._ Was someone trying to forcefully borrow her power? That should not be possible. The only way to get a goddess's power was for the goddess to lend it to that person willingly. So, what was going on?

She realized it a moment later. Someone was calling for her. Asking her to lend her power.

It was another moment before she realized, with a jolt, that it Thalia calling her. Undoubtedly through the necklace that she had given to her as a gift. She remembered telling Thalia that it was a last resort. Thalia was to use it only when the time was right. If Thalia was using the necklace's power, then she must have deemed it necessary to take drastic measures.

Artemis did not know the full situation, but she decided to trust Thalia's judgement. She forced herself to calm down and think clearly. She stopped trying to resist the pull and instead gave in to it. Just as she had expected, the pain in her gut receded and she was back to normal.

Apollo gave her a strange look as she stood up- clearly confused about what had just happened- but Artemis ignored him in favor of concentrating on lending her power to Thalia.

That pendant was an escape device. It could lend the user Artemis's hunting senses, thus allowing them to know exactly what to do to get out of any and all situation. It was the main work of that pendant, but that did not mean it was the only one. It had various other uses. Such as granting the user the ability to fully utilize the power of a goddess for a time limit.

It was a deadly weapon. And Artemis could tell that Thalia was feeling right at home with it.

She could feel the Thalia was handling the power boost. She was doing surprisingly well. The only person who had ever done this so effortlessly had been Zoe. Then again, that was to be expected.

But then Artemis felt something different. It was different from the time with Zoe. Thalia... Thalia was...

 _Holy Styx, not only is she harnessing my power, she's multiplying it and combining it with her own!_

No one had ever done something like this before. At least, not that she knew of. And Artemis knew quite a lot. This was an amazing feat. Artemis supposed that doing so might reduce Thalia's time limit -or possibly expand it- but she decided it was nor worth thinking about that right now. Thalia had just achieved something awe-inspiring. And Artemis was happy for her lieutenant.

 _Thalia,_ thought Artemis, a small but genuine smile gracing her usually stern features, _I am proud of you._

* * *

 _Time skip brought to you by Tartarus's non-existent social skills  
_

* * *

 ** _Unknown Location_**

Tartarus was feeling nervous. Why, you ask? Because he was just about to call someone for help. And he had never asked someone's help before.

Tartarus knew it was irrational to feel this way. He was an all-powerful primordial god, while the person he was meeting with was only a titan. And there was no way they would refuse his offer after they heard it. And they definitely could not beat him in a fight, that was completely out of the question.

So why was he still feeling nervous? He himself was not too sure.

He forced him self to breathe evenly and checked his digital watch(which was made of celestial bronze, by the way) to see what the time was.

Ten minutes. There was still ten minutes left until Tartarus's 'ally' arrived.

He could hardly wait. He did not really have anything to do, so he started counting in his mind.

 _594 seconds left..._

Tartarus itched his nose. He was feeling quite irritable.

 _569 seconds..._

Tartarus played with his watch. It had been custom made for him a long time ago but exactly who had made it, he could no longer remember. Not that it mattered, anyway. Probably some low-life mechanic or whatever. The watch was pretty cool though.

 _532 seconds..._

Tartarus lazily tried to swat the fly that had been bothering him quite some time now. He soon lost interest in it, though, and went back to fiddling his watch while absentmindedly wondering just why the hell people could not get somewhere early for a change.

 _449 seconds..._

Tartarus had never found bugs to be particularly interesting, but right now, he was absolutely fascinated about the caterpillar that was trying to crawl up his toe. It was almost scary, the things his mind found interesting when he was bored.

( And when his nerves were practically threatening to explode, although he would never admit it. )

 _303 seconds..._

 _241 seconds..._

 _201 seconds..._

The caterpillar had now managed to crawl up to his shin. Tartarus supposed that most would probably find that to be really, really disgusting, but just felt intrigued. But mostly, he just had nothing better to do.

 _117 seconds..._

Tartarus was bored out of his mind now. He had already shaken the caterpillar out, and was now heavily regretting the decision. AT least then, he would have had a distraction to keep him occupied.

 _97 seconds..._

There was still more than one and a half minute left. He checked his watch again. They would undoubtedly be here exactly on time, not a second earlier or later.

 _60 seconds..._

1 more minute. One more minute of this nonsense boredom. Then he would finally put his plan into action.

 _10 seconds..._

 _9 secs.._

 _8 secs.._

 _7 secs.._

 _6..._

Tartarus impatiently tapped his foot.

 _3..._

He felt a headache rising.

 _2..._

The headache worsened.

 _1.._

The headache was at it's climax. He could tell the the titan, or should he say, Titaness had arrived. Shaking his head, Tartarus looked up to see this person.

It was a middle-aged woman with slanted eyebrows, an upturned nose, a sharp jaw and high cheekbones. Her long black hair was tied in an elegant low bun, with a few strands framing her face. She was dressed in a Greek _peplos_ which was a rich red in color. Fog and mist coated her surroundings and she was emitting a rather harsh golden glow, giving her a sort of otherworldly look. Just looking at her directly was messing with Tartarus's head, he was struggling to get his facts straight.

It was Mnemosyne, the Titaness of memory.

 **There it is, people. It was more of a filler than anything else, really but I still hope you enjoyed it. I just wanted to clear up what happened in the last chapter because you might have been confused as to how that magical pendant actually worked. Also, I wanted Mnemosyne to make her entrance, she will have a pretty important part in the story. R &R, F&F! Don't forget to review either!  
**

 **P.S: A peplos is a Greek garment for women.**

 **P.P.S: Tartarus is really good at math!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Hey! This chapter's totally about Percy, so I'm really excited about it. What about you? Let me know what you feel about this in the reviews! Warning: Percy's gonna be suffering(because I am a sadist), and I feel bad for him because of that. Also, there is some mild gore in this chapter, I hope you won't mind. Now, on with the story.**

Chapter 20

 _ **Nyx's Realm**_

Percy struggled helplessly against the chains that bound him to this room. The chains were heavy, made of mixed godly weapons, and they were so, so hot that Percy was surprised his hands had not melted yet. Or combusted.

The room was dark, with not a single ray of light. Percy could not see very well but he could make out a few dark shapes lying in the corners. He himself was in the middle of the room, his hands and feet shackled to the walls on either side. No matter how much he tried, he could not get the chains to loosen. They grew hotter and hotter by every minute, and Percy was not sure how much longer he could last.

A torture chamber. That had to be it.

Nyx had put him in a torture chamber, because he had refused to take part in her plan. Now, she was going to make him suffer for it. Percy could only hope that his friends got here soon, otherwise, he was toast. And he did not mean that in a metaphorical way, these shackles really were toasting him alive.

Suddenly, he felt something shift in the room. He could not see anything, but it seemed as if the room had somehow... morphed. Into something worse.

And then he felt the first change. A searing pain shot through both of his wrists and he had to stop himself from crying out loud. It took him a moment to understand exactly what was going on. When he did, his eyes widened in horror. Metal spikes had protruded from the wrist shackles and they were digging into his hand, drawing out blood and hurting him like Hades.

He watched, eyes wide, as blood seeped from him wrist and fell to the dark, colorless ground. A small puddle was starting to form on both of his sides. He did not know what to do.

The sight of his own blood, dripping down from his wrists and coloring the ground a pretty but gruesome red, was enough to send him into a panic. He did not know what to do. He did not know what to do. Oh gods, the puddle of blood was getting larger and larger and the pain was only worsening. His whole body was now starting to hurt. And the blood. His feet were bleeding too and-

He forced himself to take deep breaths. This won't do.

 _I'm having a panic attack. Breathe, breathe. 1... 2. 1... 2. Calm down, calm down. Take deep breaths._

It took him a while but he finally calmed down enough to think rationally. He looked at his sides and saw that some of the blood had already dried and left some dark red blotches on the ground. He forced himself to think. What to do, what to do?

And then, finally, an idea hit him. He remembered his time back in Tartarus, back when he had overwhelmed Akhlys by drowning her in her own poison. He had discovered at that time that he could control fluids other than water. So, theoretically speaking, it should be possible for him to control bodily fluids as well, right? So, why should he not be able to control blood?

Well, it could not hurt to try.

Percy bit his lip and tried to focus. Focus on the blood that was dripping from his wrists and feet. Slowly, slowly, he felt something tug at his gut and he watched, mystified, as the blood slowly reduced that gradually stopped. The pain had not gone completely, but this way, at least he could prevent too much blood loss.

Percy took a moment to muse about his powers. It had not quite sunk in yet, just how much dangerous his powers were.

"Ah, I see you have somehow managed to stop the effects of my Death Shackles from taking place. But no matter, I still have plenty of other things for you. Say, how about my Whip of Divine Judgement, or do you want the shadow choking? Or maybe, disembowelment?" Nyx's voice reverberated through the room as it lit up in a disgusting yellow hue.

Now that Percy could see, he could make out that the dark shapes he had seen earlier were various types of equipment, most of then Percy had never seen. he was not too keen on finding out what their uses were.

Nyx came closer and closer until their faces were only an inch apart. She placed her hand on his face and trailed her sharp fingernails down his cheek and tilted up his chin, forcing him to look her in the eye. Her eyes were a mix of black and red, and her pupils could barely be seen. A crazed smile decorated her face, wide and insane. Hunger and lust shone in her eyes, and Percy recoiled at the sight.

"Say Percy, what form of torture do you prefer? I know tons of them? Why aren't you speaking? Is it because I said disembowelment earlier? Don't worry, you won't die from it. I'll make sure you're alive, painfully aware of it. Say, say, do you want that? Tell me!"

But Percy could not speak. Nyx's hands were now on his neck, choking him? Seriously, what was with Nyx and choking?

"Why don't you speak, Purr~cy?" Nyx purred while simultaneously choking him even more. "Did you not like the last one? Then how about nail clipping? That one is a personal favorite. I'm going to place your hand on this machine right here and you yourself will pull the trigger which will cause it to dissect your nail from your finger~ Doesn't that sound fun? Heehee~"

Nail clipping? Yeah right, more like nail ripping.

Tears were starting to form in his eyes. He tried to think of good things. He knew that only a moment of weakness was all Nyx needed to take advantage of him. He could not afford to show weakness. He had to be strong.

He thought of Annabeth and her smile, how she used to kiss him every time he did something stupid. He thought of his best friend Grover and his love for nature and tin cans. He thought of the rest of the seven, of Nico, and Thalia, and his mom and step-dad, and his little sister who he had never really gotten the chance to meet.

He thought of all the things he wanted to do after the war was over. He would finally get to settle down with Annabeth and meet his little sister. He would give his mom the biggest hug imaginable and feed Blackjack as many donuts as he wanted. He would pet Mrs. O'Leary and join Rachel in her art exhibitions. he would listen to Green day with Thalia and maybe have some tea with his dad. There were so many things he wanted to do, and in order to do them, he had to get out of here.

Newfound hope flared through him and the beginning of a plan started to bloom in his head. Admittedly, it relied to much on guesses and could use some work, but currently, it was the best one he had.

He did not know much about Protogenoi anatomy, but he assumed that they had to have _some_ sort of liquid in their body. They also bled, right? He could use that to his advantage. He did not know exactly what his powers could do but it could not hurt to test its limits, could it? He decided to give it a try.

He curled his fingers into a fist and clenched his teeth. He looked Nyx in the eye and thought of all the horrible things that she had done to him. The things that she regularly does to him. The things the she will do to him if he does not stop her.

Anger and hatred shone in his once beautiful sea-green eyes. He wished for Nyx to disappear, to dry out, to just stop existing.

It took a moment for his powers to take effect. Slowly, Nyx's crazed smile was replaced with a constipated look. Her grip on his neck loosened and she touched her own throat instead. Percy could see it, she was getting weaker.

She had completely let go of Percy by now. Her face was paler than before.

"Wh-what have you d-done to m-me, J-Jackson?" Nyx's throat was dry. Slowly, she was losing all the color in her body. It was as if... as if her blood was evaporating.

Percy watched with a mix of horror and fascination as the effects of his own curse took place. It was a disgusting sight, watching her body dehydrate and become shriveled, but at the same time, he could not take his eyes of off it.

The chains around his wrists and feet loosened and Percy could get out of them easily. He took one look at Nyx and immediately recoiled in horror and disgust. Nyx's whole body was shriveled up and writhing in agony. She was pathetic.

Suddenly, as he watched her suffer, the depth of the whole situation finally sunk in. The gravity of his newfound power... it all came down on him like a heavy weight. It was almost too much to handle. To be able to control someone's bodily fluids... it was a terrifying ability. A danger and lethal ability. With that power, he could easily kill someone. He could... he could...

Percy refused to think about it. He was not that kind of person. He was not a murderer. He would- _could-_ never ever kill someone willingly.

Percy rid himself of these thoughts and shook his head. He could tell that whatever effects his power was having on Nyx would wear off at some point. He could not kill her. She was immortal, after all.

But he had managed to buy time for himself. Admittedly, it was not very long probably, but it was still better than nothing. Within the limited time he had, he would have to locate the heart of Nyx's realm, and he had to find out exactly where his physical body was. And he had to do it fast.

Wasting no time, Percy rushed out of the torture chamber and entered a confusing hallway with a thousand different doors. Confusion and annoyance ripped through him. Now what? He decided to open the door that was the closest to him. He hesitated a moment before taking a deep breath and opening that door. Cautiously, he took a step inside.

And in the next moment, he witnessed a murder take place.

And it was not just any murder. He saw _himself_ get murdered.

By Annabeth.

 **Wait, what just happened? Honestly, I'm not too sure myself. This chapter was not exactly supposed to turn out like that but as I was going with the flow, that ending just sort of... happened. I'm not complaining though, because I am actually quite satisfied with how it turned out. What about you? Let me know your feelings about this chapter in the reviews! I'll be expecting one from everyone, so live up to them, m'kay? I'm out for now.**


	22. Chapter 21

**Hiya! I was so happy with the response of the last chapter. Annabeth will learn of what Nyx has done to Percy(she won't be very happy), but that won't be until a few more chapters. Please wait a bit. For now, enjoy a bit of them separately, there will be lots of percabeth later on. Let's start now, shall we?**

Chapter 21

 _ **Nyx's Realm, Unknown Room**_

Percy looked at the scene replaying in front of him with horror and confusion. It was scene he knew all too well. A scene he had seen too many times in nightmares. What he did not understand, was why it was showing here.

 _Clash. Clomp. Bang._

 _The sound of swords clashing, of explosions, of people screaming, of people dying._

 _Blood. Blood everywhere._

 _Annabeth was in front of him, a spear stuck in her chest, covered in blood, of her own as well as others. She looked straight at him, her eyes bloodshot and filled with hatred and betrayal._

 _"You did this! It's all your fault! It's because you left her that I became like this. It's all your fault, Percy Jackson, you brought this upon yourself!"_

 _His eyes were glassy and broken. "Don't do this, Annabeth. I love you."_

 _"I'm not Annabeth!" she screamed at him before giving a dry laugh, "Goodbye, Percy Jackson, I had fun."_

 _With that, she raised her dagger and-_

That was where it ended every time. In every nightmare, it ended with the same thing. But not this time. This time, the scene did not end. He watched as Annabeth drove her dagger straight into his chest, and he watched himself fall, and heard his friends cry out and-

After that, he could see and hear no more, because his eyes were blurry with unshed tears and the sound of his own sobs filled the room. He could not help the sudden burst of emotions that exploded in his heart at seeing the scene, nor could he keep them bottled up inside.

All he emotions that had swelled up inside him in all these years suddenly just flew out. The dam broke. He wanted to scream and curse and cry out, but he found that his throat was dry and he could not get a single coherent word out, which made him feel even worse than he had been feeling in the torture chamber.

 _This isn't true,_ he told himself. Because it wasn't. It couldn't be.

But deep inside, he knew that he was just running away. He knew that this wasn't just a meaningless dream. It was- would be true, at some point. And no matter how much he tried to convince himself that it wasn't, it was going to happen anyway.

It hurt. Everything hurt.

It hurt to know that this horrible, horrible dream was a vision that was bound to come true at some point. It hurt to scream because his throat was so dry. It hurt to cry because these tears stung. It hurt to feel so much when all he felt was bitterness. His wrists and feet hurt because of the torture he had gone through, ans whole body just hurt because of over-exertion. It. freaking. hurt.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

He couldn't take it anymore. It was all killing him from inside out. He watched as the same scene played out in front of him time and time again, and every time he watched, a part of him died inside.

His body gave out first. He just couldn't physically stand the pain anymore. His knees gave out under him and he doubled over to the floor face-first. His forehead hit the ground hard and his vision narrowed.

The last thing he heard before passing out, or maybe it was just his imagination, was the cackling laughter of Nyx.

* * *

 _ **Alaska**_

"Hey, Lou, um, do you mind if I ask you something?" Hazel questioned timidly.

Lou raised an eyebrow, but otherwise did not make any attempt to discourage her. "Shoot," she said.

Hazel fiddled with the hem of her shirt, a clear sign of nervousness. "I was just wondering, um, why are you and Lady Hecate. . . like that?"

Lou unintentionally took a sharp intake of breath. That was a question that she had been dreading ever since Hecate agreed to let her go on the quest with them. The three of them had kept quite all this time while they were sailing to Alaska, but it seemed like their curiosity had gotten the better of them now.

"I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but I was just wondering if you, um, wanted to talk about it? Sharing really helps sometimes," Hazel said, her concern and nervousness evident in her voice.

Lou appreciated the sentiment, she really did. It wasn't as if she was intentionally trying to keep it a secret from them, but some things were just better left unsaid. This was one of them.

Lou sighed. "I know you mean well, Hazel, I really do. But I just, I'm not ready yet. I promise to tell you guys someday, but not now."

Hazel smiled. "Of course. I won't push you. I just wanted you to know that if you ever wanted to talk, we're here for you."

Lou smiled back. "I'll be sure to remember hat."

 _But I doubt you'd smile as you are now, if you knew what I did._

* * *

 _ **Unknown Place  
**_

Erebus raised an eyebrow at the woman in front of him.

She had dark hair with streaks of a dozen different colors, that looked like it had not ever seen a comb. Her eyes had a crazy glint to it, which showed utter insanity. The smile on her face looked more like a grimace than anything, and she was dressed in dirty, wrinkled robes.

It was Eris, the goddess of strife and discord.

"So, what brings you here to my humble den, lady?" Erebus asked, calmly sipping tea.

Eris grinned, which made her look even more chaotic than before. "Shouldn't that be obvious, _Lord_ Erebus?"

"I should have you know, sass is not appreciated here in my secret hideout."

Eris laughed. "Secret? If you call having a hideout with EREBUS written at the front a _secret_ , then sure, why not?"

"As I said before, the sass is not appreciated. What are you here for, really? Why don't you just spill the beans already?" Erebus asked, taking another sip of the tea.

"I have a plan," said Eris, "to overthrow Olympus."

"And why, pray tell, should I listen to your plan?"

Eris shrugged nonchalantly. "Because you don't have a better one yourself. Don't you know what I did at Peleus and Thetis's wedding? You could safely say that I, singlehandedly, started the Trojan War! Don't you think it would be wise to follow my instructions? I'd be a very valuable ally."

"For the goddess of discord, you sure talk smooth," Erebus said offhandedly.

Eris smirked, "So you're not completely disregarding the notion of having me as an ally?"

"Of course not," said Erebus, taking another sip of tea, "As you say, you _would_ be a valuable ally. But how do I know that I can trust you?

"You can't!" said Eris, laughing maniacally, "You can't trust anyone in war, _Lord_ Erebus. You don't trust your brother, do you? But that doesn't stop you from forging an alliance with him. So why should I be any different?"

"You do have a point, of course. But you have one thing wrong. I'm not Tartarus's ally and he is not mine, I am merely using him. You know how the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Eris grinned. "Then use me too. Are you seriously that blind? Hasn't it occurred to you that you could just use all the information I have and then throw me away like you plan to do with your wife and brother?"

It has occurred to him, of course. But it was better to let Eris think he was dumb than to let her think he was a threat. He intentionally let her think that she was the one in charge, when in fact, he was the one pulling all the strings.

"Ah, I didn't quite think about that. Then, pray tell, even after knowing that you're just another dispensable puppet, will you still be my ally?"

"Sure, why not, this is all just a game for me anyway. But I'll have you know, I am my own person, as you are yours. And if the situation calls for it," she said, "I won't hesitate to stab you in the back."

Erebus smiled. "Ah, then I'll have to make sure I never have my back turned, won't I?"

"As long as you know that," said Eris, an almost nice smile plastered to her face.

 **And cut. For those who don't know, at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis(Achilles's parents), all the gods were invited except Eris. She then appeared at the wedding and placed an apple on the table with the label 'for the fairest'. This started an argument between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite about who was the fairest among them, which led to the gods going to a mortal named Paris to pass judgement. Paris chose Aphrodite because she promised him the hand of Helen, the most beautiful girl in the world. With her help, Paris abducted Helen, which led her husband, Menelaus(and others) to wage war on Troy, leading to the Trojan war. So, in a way, you could say that Eris was the one who started it. Obviously, matters weren't quite as simple but if I tried to explain it now, we'd be here all day. I actually read a whole book about the Trojan war, so i know a lot, and I'm going to use a lot of references to it in the story. I'll try to explain all of them when they come.**

 **Until next time ;) Don't forget to follow, favorite and review!**


	23. Special II

**'Sup? Here's where things get really serious, people. Like, _really_ serious. Erebus and Tartarus are planning their next move with their new allies, and Nyx already has her hands full with Percy, as well as the two rescue parties. These are desperate times, but surprisingly, no prophecy has been issued yet. Isn't that odd? I wonder what's actually going on. That's exactly what will be here in this special chapter(yes, this is a special). Oh, and some percabeth as well!**

* * *

Special II: The musings of an Oracle

 _ **1.**_

When Rachel first learned of the world of Greek mythology, she was enchanted. She had always been able to see strange things which other people could not, and whenever she tried to tell others about it, they looked at her as if she was a freak. She was different, she knew it. No one wanted to be her friend. But the world of myths and stories... they never judged her like people did. They accepted her for who she was and never pushed away. Unlike all those human children.

At the age of seven, while all other kids spent their time playing with other kids, Rachel Elizabeth Dare's best and only friends were books.

Her parents were both busy people, and never seemed to have any time for her. She tried to understand, she really did, and she tried so hard to not hate them for it. But as a child, it was not so easy to accept these things. It was never enough for her. While all the other children complained about how their parents were too strict, she looked at them with envy.

 _Being scolded would be a blessing,_ she thought, _compared to being lonely._

One night, she cried herself to sleep and had a very strange dream. It felt very strange to even describe it as a dream because it just felt do real. She saw blood, and herself and her mother, and people in doctors' uniforms, a stretcher, someone being carried to the hospital. Before that, she saw a car, broken glasses and a dent on the front. It was a car accident.

The next morning, the memory was vague and no matter how much she tried to remember it, it just wouldn't come. So, she spent the whole day trying to remember how it was and put it into words. When words would not come to her, she resorted to drawing it.

A call came that evening. Her mother had been in a car accident and was now being hospitalized.

At that moment, her blood ran cold and everything from last night's dream came rushing back to her. Now that she thought carefully about it, the woman in her dreams had definitely been her mother. She had somehow seen the accident happening before it actually took place.

She did not go to the hospital with her father. Instead, she spent the whole night in her room, painting the accident.

In her painting, there was a lot of red. There was the red of blood, their red car, and her mother was wearing an elegant red dress. The picture was gruesome, but it was also sickeningly pretty.

Rachel was in love with it.

Her new hobby became art. And whenever she had any weird dreams, she preferred to paint them in her art book.

It did not take her that long to figure out that these were not just any ordinary dreams. It happened again. And again. And again. And every time, they came true. After it happened for the fifth time, she became absolutely sure that these were glimpses of the future. _She_ could see glimpses of the future.

At first, the revelation was totally thrilling. But soon enough, her opinion of it changed. She didn't seem to see anything good and whenever she saw a vision, it was always something bad happening.

Mother's car accident. Father's money problems. Moving to a new place.

At first, it was not quite that bad. But as time went on, it started getting worse and worse.

The death of relatives. Betrayal by the few friends she had. Funerals of friends. Funerals of teachers.

The death of her grandmother was the last straw. How could she possibly bear seeing her parents cry their hearts out, while she sat in a corner, still as stone, knowing that she could have done something to prevent it because she knew it was going to happen. She knew. She knew exactly what was going to happen. And she wanted so, so badly to save her, but by that time, she had already learned that fate was not to be tampered with.

It was horrible. Absolutely horrible to know what was going to happen but being able to do anything about it.

That night, she cried and cried, until her tears had dried up, and she fell asleep. Right before falling asleep, she made a wish. A wish to never have to suffer with having this ability anymore.

From then on, Rachel Elizabeth Dare never had anymore prophetic visions.

At least, until she met Percy Jackson.

* * *

 _ **2.**_

Rachel met Percy Jackson at the age of fourteen, when she and her family were visiting Hoover Dam. Of course, at that time she did not know his name, but as soon as she saw him, she knew he was someone special.

And so, although she had absolutely no obligation to help this stranger, especially when said stranger had just tried to run her through with a sword, she helped him without any hesitation, because she knew that it was what she needed to do. It was one of the things that she just knew, without having to have been told by any visions of the future.

She felt really good after helping him, and she just knew that it would not be her last encounter with him. It was a gut feeling.

And her gut proved to be right. She had the fortune to end up going to the same high school as him. And as soon as she saw him, she knew that all the persuasion and nagging she had to do get her father to agree to let her come here had been totally worth it.

They talked. And Rachel felt better than she had in years. Knowing that the world of myths was true, something that she had been suspecting for a long time, gave her a sense of purpose. She was absolutely thrilled.

But then he suddenly disappeared, and Rachel was not sure what to do. She waited, and waited, and just kept waiting, because there was nothing else to do. Waiting proved to be the correct decision because he returned and himself sought her out to accompany him on his quest in the Labyrinth.

She met Percy's friends, Grover, Tyson and Annabeth. She liked them all well enough, but not all of them welcomed her quite as warmly.

Annabeth was jealous. And it was plain to her why. But Rachel really could not understand what she had to be jealous of, considering how _she_ was the one who was closer to Percy. Compared to her, Rachel was a nobody.

Rachel had to admit, it sort of stung to see exactly how much Percy and Annabeth were into each other. It was plain as day to her, but somehow, both of them remained totally oblivious to these feelings. It was almost comical, but also somewhat sad. Percy had been the first guy that Rachel had shown any kind of interest in, and to see him so completely engrossed with another girl made her somewhat bitter.

But, as always, Rachel feigned indifference, and that seemed to piss off Annabeth even more. Annabeth was in love with him, and Rachel found that she could not blame her one bit. Percy was just so easy to fall in love with, and Annabeth was just another person in the same boat as her.

But still, she imagined that she and Percy were in love. She liked to think that her fancy for him was true, actual love, and he also loved her back. She imagined the two walking together, hand in had, with Annabeth's full consent.

Every night, she dreamed that she and Percy were walking on the beach, holding hands. But every time, by the end of the dream, her face always disappeared and was replaced with Annabeth's. And although it was rather hard to admit, she found that Annabeth's hand fitted much better in Percy's than her own, and Percy's eyes always seemed to be more radiant whenever Annabeth was around him.

Slowly, slowly, she came to accept that she wasn't the one Percy was destined to be with. It was Annabeth.

And Rachel was fine with that. Because she could never love Percy as much as Annabeth did, and Percy deserved at least that much. Rachel was in love, but it was not with Percy Jackson, but with his world. And when she accepted that, it suddenly became whole lot easier for her to see Percy and Annabeth together.

So, Rachel decided to get rid of any lingering feelings she might still have left for Percy Jackson with a kiss. It was not a kiss that said 'I want to be with you' but rather, a kiss that said 'I am giving up on you'.

And afterwards, when she had dreams that were definitely not ordinary ones for the first time in years, she did not push them away. Instead, she embraced them and smiled, because maybe prophecies did not always have to be bad things. Maybe she could make it good.

And when she saw Annabeth and Percy at the end of the dream, holding hands and kissing, for once she did not scorn either of them. Instead, she found her tiny smile transforming into a grin.

* * *

 _ **3.**_

Seeing Percy and Annabeth together became a routine for everyone as soon as they became a would come to the dining area holding hands, or would be seen sitting on the canoe with Annabeth's head on Percy's shoulder, or they would sit back and gaze at the stars after they think that everyone else had left and then whisper sweet nothings to each other while Percy's head lay on Annabeth's lap and she stroked his hair.

Nobody actually left, but instead stayed back and watched the two of them. It was rare for the pair to always be so affectionate to each other during the day in front of everyone, but at night, when they thought no one was looking, they sought each other's company and snuggled together, often sharing a kiss or two.

Although almost everyone in the camp had a crush on Percy or Annabeth or both of them, no one could find it in their hearts to feel jealous at the scene before them and all they could think was how perfect they looked next to each other, and the only things that left their mouths were blessings for the couple.

Rachel was no exception. She would quietly observe at nights as Percy snuck into Annabeth's room or vice versa, and then she quietly wondered to herself what the two of them might be doing now. Knowing them, probably either cuddling, or trying to tear each other's throat apart.

Rachel smiled at the thought. Yes, it would definitely be just like them to try to kill each other while being loving at the same time. At these times, Rachel was glad that she had chosen to give up on Percy. Both because she had absolutely no idea how she would have competed with Annabeth in a love squabble and also because she did not wish to see this cute couple ruined.

They were not perfect, individually. But together, they just complimented each other so well that no one seemed to be able to find any words other than 'perfect' to describe them.

After the pair returned from Tartarus, something changed between them. It was as if they were closer than ever, yet distant at the same time. Rachel found herself wishing that whatever was going on between them would be solved soon, because she, and everyone else, could not bear to see the power couple of camp half-blood so torn and broken.

Eventually, things seemed to mend between them and they went back to being how they were before. warm and loving yet fierce and competitive at the same time. Rachel found herself thing that she had really missed this.

And then, just as things were getting better, Percy once again disappeared.

And as Annabeth sat on the beach all by herself, her eyes red and puffy from having cried for a long time, Rachel did not hesitate to join and console her. As she watched Annabeth cry to her heart's content, she was once again reminded of how exactly she had first been able to relate to her. Annabeth was just another person tangled in a web of conflicting emotions towards Percy Jackson. She was just another person in the same boat as Rachel herself, and she really could not find it in herself to blame her.

And at that time, she decided once and for all, that Percy belonged to Annabeth. And he should return, if not nor everyone else's sake, then just for Annabeth's. Because she deserved at least that.

 _They_ deserved at least that.

* * *

 _ **4.**_

Rachel hated feeling useless. Useless and helpless. They were the things that she most hated feeling.

Yet now, those two were the only things she was feeling. Useless and helpless and hopeless. While everyone fought and defended Olympus, she could only sit back and try to help and wait for a damn prophecy to arrive.

Rachel had never hated the Oracle of Delphi more than now. Why was it that it was totally useless when it was needed the most? Why was it that _she_ was totally useless when she was needed the most?

Rachel hated herself. And she hated Percy Jackson for disappearing. And she hated Annabeth and Grover and all the others for actually being so useful, making her feel all the more useless. She hated Will for having the strength to face all those injured campers and fixing them. And she hated calypso for being able to smile and put so much faith in her boyfriend Leo and trust him to return.

She hated a lot of things at the moment, but it was mostly just herself.

But she did not want to be more of a burden than she already was, so she did not complain and tried to help everyone to the best of her abilities. It was frustrating sometimes, to see people fall in the battle field, people she knew, and to not be able to do anything about it other than to just sit back and watch.

It hurt, and she felt like an absolutely horrible and selfish person, for saving her own neck when she could try to save a lot of others'. It was her grandmother's death all over again, and she felt like she was once again a little girl, crying herself to sleep.

And that night, Rachel did end up crying herself to sleep, but this time, she did not wish to run away from her gift like she did before. This time, she wished to be useful and issue a prophecy.

* * *

 _ **5.**_

Rachel sees herself floating on nothingness. And just in front of her, there is Annabeth, looking right into her eyes with so much purpose and meaning that it seems as if she is trying to convey some wordless message to her just through eye contact.

And Rachel understands what she is trying to say. Annabeth's eyes are saying that Rachel loves Percy and it isn't just in the way she thinks. But Annabeth is not accusing her of it, but rather, she is looking at her with understanding.

And Rachel is forced to recognize the feeling that has been threatening to flood her chest as soon as she met Percy Jackson.

"I love him." The words spill out of her mouth so easily that she wonders why she has not done this before. Annabeth looks at her with a sad smile and nods, as if she has known this all along, even before Rachel herself.

And tears threaten to spill out as she realizes for the first time, she has let go of something important before she knew that she wanted it. And Annabeth is looking at her with such understanding that she can't even hate her, although she wants to.

"I know," said Annabeth, a sad smile on her face, "So do I."

After that, the tears do flow out of her eyes. But it is not because of bitterness or jealousy. It is because she is glad, glad that Percy has a girl like Annabeth to look after him when she herself cannot.

The scene changes, and Rachel finds herself standing on the left side of a bedroom.

Annabeth is on the other side, and right in the middle, there is a bed, and lying peacefully on that bed is the sleeping figure of Percy Jackson. He looks so relaxed and peaceful that Rachel does not want to wake him up. His mouth is slightly open and there is drool coming out of it, but she does not think it is disgusting. If anything, he looks rather cute.

Rachel glances at Annabeth and catches her smiling at Percy, which makes her give a wistful smile as well. Percy Jackson is just so close yet so far.

Rachel glances back at Percy, only to see him turn in his sleep to face towards Annabeth, moving away from her. The gesture stings but Rachel does not try to make him turn back towards her. Nor does she try to to go to the other side of the room where she could see him properly.

She just stands where she has been standing, and softly whispers,

"I love you, idiot."

From the other side of the bed, Annabeth whispered the same thing synchronously, and turned off the lights.

* * *

 _ **+1**_

The next morning, Rachel wakes up in her bed in the oracle's cave. She does not have time to process anything before smoke comes out of her her eyes glow green. Words spew out of her mouth, only for her her to hear and no one else.

 _A three-way feud among the Old_

 _Can only be stopped by a hero so bold,_

 _Who shall be rescued but not without cost._

 _One key gained, another key lost._

 _The maiden of Artemis and the lady of Rome_

 _though with much trouble, shall return home._

 _Wanderers of the shrine, beware the Night,_

 _The only way to win is to bring the truth to light._

This time, she does not forget, and she makes a point to relay it to everyone.

* * *

 **Yes, more than three thousand words, a new record! I know I suddenly switched to present tense in the middle but that was totally intentional and I only did it because it sounded better like this. Once again, reviews are welcome and much appreciated.**


	24. Chapter 22

**Sorry for the late update people. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 22

 _ **Alaska**_

Nico looked at the map in his hands with a confused expression. Hecate had given them the magical map to be able to easily locate where Thanatos was being held captive. But, naturally, it just had to be anything but easy.

First of all, the map looked like it was handwritten, and if it was, Nico just had no better way to phrase it, then Hecate's handwriting was shit. It looked nothing better than a child's doodles, really. One would think that gods and goddesses had many qualities and were good at everything, but. Apparently not.

Secondly, it was worse than a goddamn maze. Alaska looked nothing different from the labyrinth in the map, and Nico was saying this from personal experience.

And thirdly, although Nico did not know it, he was actually holding the map upside down.

"Give it to me," said Lou in an irritated tone, snatching the map away from Nico. Nico did not even try to take it back. He was just totally done with it.

"Dude, you've been holding it upside down the whole time!" Lou complained, "No wonder we haven't gotten anywhere yet."

Nico was also starting to get irritated now. "Well, not my fault your mother's drawing is worse three years old's, is it?"

Suddenly, the whole atmosphere of the place shifted. A rather dark and defensive aura was surrounding Lou, and the sheer force of it was urging Hazel and Frank to take a step back. Even Nico seemed to realize that he had said something wrong.

"Don't say that," Lou whispered softly, but angrily.

"Don't say what? That your mother-"

"Don't call her my mother!" Lou yelled out, "She's not my mother, okay? No mother would ever do to her child what she did to me. And she thinks she's doing me a favor! A favor! What a joke. If she was really my mother, then she wouldn't have done it. She's a shitty parent. A really, really shitty parent."

Nico scoffed. He was getting rather tired of Lou thinking that she was the most miserable person in the world. There were countless other who were suffering more than her, who had seen much worse than her. Her parent was not the only bad one, all the gods were shitty parents.

"You think you are the only one who has it bad? Well, guess what, you're not that special. All the gods are shitty parents, you hear me? Mine's no exception, neither is yours. So stop thinking that you're the only one who's suffering when there are so many more who are suffering just as much, if not more. And if you really are hurting that much, why do you have to do it alone? Why can't you just tell us and get it over with?" Nico stopped, out of breath.

Hazel decided that now would be a good time to step in. "Alright, you two. Stop it. Now!" She glared at both of them. "We have a job, remember? We have to stick together! So no point in fighting among ourselves, is there? Am I right?"

When neither of them made the effort to back down, she glared harder. " _Am I right?_ " She said, pronouncing each syllable slowly and carefully, like a warning.

Nico and Lou both flinched and backed down.

"Sorry," Lou breathed out. "You didn't say anything wrong, so I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm sorry, it was the stress getting to me."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," said Nico, biting his lip. He had actually meant everything he had said, but he supposed that it had come out as rather rude. "I shouldn't have phrased it that way. But you know, I really do think it would be easier for you if you shared it with us."

Hazel nodded at this and looked at Lou in a hopeful way. Frank also nodded at her encouragingly, gesturing for her to say something.

Lou bit her lip. "It's, it's just complicated, okay? Look, I'm not ready to open up about it yet. But I'll be, one day. And when that time comes, you'll be the first to know, alright?"

They were slightly disappointed, but did not push her to say anything. Instead, they all nodded in understanding.

"Right. So, back to what we were doing. Lou, can you read the map?" asked Frank.

Lou looked slightly conflicted but nodded nonetheless. "I think so. I mean, I can understand well enough about what it's trying to show. But the details are still blurry, though."

Hazel pursed her lips. "We'll just have to make do with that then. Alright, tell us what it shows."

Lou took a deep breath before starting to explain. She pointed to the middle of the page, "Look here, it's the place where Thanatos is being kept. As far as I can make out, there's a barrier all around it, with no way to get in." She then pointed to what looked like the drawing of a tower to the left side, "But here, in this tower, there's an underground passage which leads to the prison. I can't see the entrance, but I think there's be a guard. If we can trick him, we should be able to get in.

"And then we'll have to take underground passage to Thanatos's prison. I think he'll be bound with some pretty hard shackles, but I have an idea about how to break them." Lou stopped, taking a breath.

Frank involuntarily flinched at the memory of how they had freed Thanatos the first time. Hazel put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he smiled at her.

"Now, that was all the easy part," continued Lou, "Here comes the hard part: how to escape. Look, I think there's a sort of portal around there. Not sure where it leads to, but we'll have to take a chance. Here's what we are gonna do..."

* * *

 _ **Shrine of Nyx**_

Annabeth looked at the place in front of her. It looked nothing like she had expected.

When she had heard that it was located on the outskirts of Tartarus, she had been expecting it to look just like Tartarus, but it was actually nothing like it. The place was... it was... different, for lack of a better word.

If it had not been for the dangerous and dark aura surrounding the place, it might even have been considered beautiful. It was all black and golden, and it had a sort of exotic and intoxicating allure to it. As if it was pulling you in like a magnet.

Annabeth shared a look with her companions. Grover had a look of nervous determination on his face, Leo had a nonchalant facade, Jason looked unsure, and Piper seemed intimidated. Annabeth wondered what sort of look she had on her own face.

She decided it didn't matter. They were her friends. Even if she let her tough front slip for a moment, they wouldn't mind, and would help her back up.

"Well," Leo was the one who broke the silence. "What now?"

"Let's try to get in, perhaps?" Piper suggested. Everyone nodded and it was decided that Annabeth should be the one to enter first, while Leo brought up the rear.

Looking at her friends one last time, Annabeth stepped forward. But instead of going in, she was pushed back by an invisible force. _What the Hades?,_ she thought as she hit the invisible barrier and bounced back, falling to the ground.

The others immediately surrounded her. "Hey what happened?"

"Did you get hurt? Are you alright?"

"What was that?"

"Wait, don't say it. Gods, why did I think it would be easy to do something for once?"

"An invisible force field," Annabeth breathed out, "But there's got to be some way to get in. Maybe there are sensors here that only let in Primordial gods? It could be."

"But then how are we supposed to get in?" asked Piper.

The gears in Annabeth's head were turning. "A fake energy signature," she said, "That should be enough to trick this into letting us in. But the question is, how do we make a fake energy signature?" She pursed her lips. There was nothing present here to make anything even remotely close to Primordial energy. Unless... unless it didn't have to be artificial.

"Oh, I don't like that look on your face," said Grover, "It's the look which says _'I am planning something crazy_ '. I've seen that look on Percy too many a time."

Well, Annabeth supposed that was fair. Her plan _was_ borderline insane, after all.

"What are you planning, Annabeth?" asked Jason.

"It's stupid. Really, really stupid. But we don't have any other way," she said, "Akhlys."

Grover knitted his eyebrows. "What? What did you say?"

"Akhlys," Annabeth repeated, "We have to kidnap Akhlys. We clearly can't make fake energy signatures, so we have to get a _real_ one. A real Primordial. And Akhlys in the nearest, in Tartarus."

Everything was silent for a moment. And then-

"Annabeth, _are you crazy?_ There's no way I'm letting you go to Tartarus again!" said Jason.

"No, no, no. That's stupider than Percy's plans! Kidnap a Primordial goddess? That's beyond insane!" said Grover.

"Annabeth, you're gonna get yourself and us killed that way. Can't you think of something else?" said Piper desperately.

"Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. We are not going to do that," said Leo.

Annabeth took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew exactly what she was getting herself into. Heck, she knew the risks better than any of them. But she also knew that it was their best shot. Their only shot.

"We have to do this. There's no other way. And if you guys aren't coming with me, then I'll go by myself."

The others all let out frustrated groans. They knew that she had a resolve of steel. If she had made up her mind, then there was no contradicting her. She was just like Percy in that sense.

"Fine, fine. We'll give this a shot. But don't blame us when we all end up going to Hades the hard way."

Annabeth managed a weak smile. "I knew I could trust you guys."

* * *

 **So, that's it. The stage has been set. And now, all the real action begins. Damn I've been itching to write those insane battle scenes and tactics for so long. And the feels. Be prepared, folks, angst is coming your way. But if you squint, you can see the hurt/comfort and romance too. I'll try to update within next week but if I can't, then don't be worried, it'll be there soon enough. The rising action starts. Until next time, people! Follow, favorite, and review!  
**


	25. Chapter 23

**Now, let's see Percy's side of things, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter 23

 _ **Shrine of Nyx**_

When Percy opened his eyes, the first thing that he saw was a great golden chandelier. A great, golden, _broken_ chandelier. That was just about to fall on top of him.

 _This is it,_ he thought _, this is how I am going to die. I can already see what will be written on my gravestone. Percy Jackson, died by being crushed to dust by a broken chandelier that he was too stupid to dodge._

As soon as the thought hit him, he was wide awake. _No, I don't wanna die like that! That's way to stupid, even for me._

The chandelier made a creaking noise, and Percy bolted upwards, with speed he himself did not know he possessed. But his knees wobbled as soon as he got up and it took him a moment to gather himself and get out of the chandelier's way.

After he had made sure that his life was not in danger of being crushed by a chandelier, Percy finally noticed his surroundings. He was in a circular room with a dome-shaped ceiling. The wall was painted beautifully with intricate red designs over a plain but elegant black. The ceiling looked like it was made of mirror, because wherever he looked, he could see a reflection of himself. Hanging from the middle of the ceiling was the broken chandelier.

The room had a sort of ancient feel to it, the sort of feel you often get when near historical monuments or such. Percy was not sure if this was a historical monument or not, though, because he was fairly certain that those sort of stuff was not supposed to exist in Nyx's Realm.

...

And that's when it hit him.

 _This isn't the Realm of Nyx._

But if it wasn't the Realm of Nyx, then where was it? The last thing that Percy remembered was entering a shady looking room and then being shown that horrible vision over and over again. And then...

 _Oh, I get it now! So that's what happened..._

Percy had passed out in Nyx's Realm, which, technically speaking, was actually just an extension of Percy's own subconscious. So, if he had passed out in there, then there was only one possible place where he could be in right now.

His real body.

It almost felt unreal, being back to his own body after such a long time. All this time, he had been trying all these crazy ideas trying to get out of Nyx's Realm and turned out, all he had to do was faint.

A laugh escaped his lips at the thought, but pretty soon, he was coughing.

His throat was really dry. He supposed that made sense. His body had not been used for a really long time, so it was only natural that things would be somewhat hard right now. He just hoped that this did not become a hindrance while fighting.

Percy tried moving his arms first. They were a little stiff but soon enough, he felt normal. He tried out a few exercises, and when he found out he could do them all perfectly, he thanked all the gods and goddesses in existence.

He moved around the room, trying to relax his legs. When he felt they were not as stiff as before, he tried out some full body exercises. Pretty soon, he felt he had perfected all his techniques, thanks to muscle memory.

He decided to look around the place, to see if he could figure out where he was. The place did not seem familiar to him but there was a nagging feeling in his gut telling him that he knew where it was. And that it was not a place he wanted to be in. At all.

There were three doors on three arcs of the room. Percy wondered whether it made any difference as to which door he took. Or was it some sort of place where you would die if you chose the wrong door? Like all those riddles that Annabeth used to love?

At the thought of Annabeth, a small, wistful smile made its way to his face. Sweet, smart, scary Annabeth. She was probably still a freak for riddles. If she was here, she would have known exactly what to do. She always did.

But alas, Percy did not possess the smarts of his girlfriend. He could not decide what to do.

At last, he decided to take the door to his left, partly because it was the closest and would take less walking, and mostly because its handle was blue in color. Blue had always been his color.

Percy made his way to the blue-handled door. He hesitated for a moment before deciding, _Oh what the Hades, this can't be the stupidest decision I've ever made,_ and then he grabbed the knob and turned it. The door made a soft creaking sound as it opened, and for a moment, Percy again wondered if he had made the right decision.

The inside was totally dark. He could not see very well. With a sense of foreboding, he opened a door a bit wider and entered the room. As soon as he did, the door shut behind him with a loud bang.

Percy let out a yelp as his vision was suddenly filled with nothing. He could not see anything at all. It was all just darkness. A cold, sinister darkness that reminded him of Nyx and Tartarus. But it was slightly different, though just as powerful.

Instinctively, Percy's hand went into his pocket, hoping against hope to find his trusty sword/ballpoint pen there. When his hand touched the cool surface of Riptide, he let out a sigh of relief and brought it out. As soon as he uncapped it, the bronze glow of Riptide filled the room and for a moment, Percy was blinded. When his eyes finally adjusted to the sudden light, he realized that the room was not a very big one.

It was painted totally black, and it wasn't the elegant sort of black that had been in the previous room. It was just...nothing. And that somehow made it scarier.

There were three coffin-styled boxes lying on the ground. Percy wondered if he should open it. What would Annabeth do in this situation? Try as he might, he could not focus properly.

The son of Poseidon decided to check out the coffins. This time, he chose the one on the far right. He approached it cautiously. Bending down to his knees, he touched its surface. And immediately, on cue, a memory started playing in his head.

 _He was sitting on the beach watching the sea. The sea was calm today and the view from his position was just breathtaking. Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso, and he knew immediately who it was._

 _"Come on, Wise Girl, let's go play in the water!" He said enthusiastically, making wild hand gestures._

 _Annabeth's laugh greeted him, and it was music to his ears. Her body was pressed against his, her blonde curls falling on his shoulders. She smelled of lemon grass and olive. Percy had never quite understood the combination, but he could not help but think that she smelled really nice._

 _"Sure, Seaweed Brain! But you better be fast or I'm leaving you behind!" Annabeth said, laughing. She quickly scrambled away from him and started running towards the sea. Percy also got up and ran after her, yelling for her to wait for him._

 _Annabeth gave him a rather taunting smile. "Come on, get here fast, Seaweed Brain. I can't wait all day!"_

 _"Why, you-" Percy ran towards her at full speed and picked her up before she could protest. Annabeth told him to put her down, but she sounded like she was rather enjoying herself. Percy then began tickling her, which resulted in her laughing till her stomach hurt._

 _Percy had a large grin on his face, the one he always got whenever he could get Annabeth to laugh in that carefree way. It was his most favorite sound in the world. More beautiful than Piper's songs, and Apollo's singers._

 _The two of them sat together at the shore, the gentle waves touching their feet. Their hands were intertwined, and they were gazing into each other's eyes as if they were the only people in the world. Behind them, the sun was just about to set. The soft breeze was soothing and even the seagulls passing by seemed to be in the best of moods._

 _Their faces closed in, until their lips were touching. It was a gesture full of love, of their complete devotion to each other. It was a long time when they finally broke apart._

 _"I love you, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth, her eyes full of fondness and love._

 _"I love you more, Wise Girl," replied Percy, meaning every single word, "We'll be together. Forever."_

 _"Forever," Annabeth agreed._

And then the memory stopped and Percy was whisked back to reality. He realized that the scene playing out of his head was just a figment of his memories from fie years ago, when he was still with Annabeth and all of his friends.

He didn't realize he was crying until his eyes went glassy and his cheeks were totally wet. God, he missed those days so much. He wondered if things would be the same when he went back. He wondered whether things could ever be as before. It would probably never be like before again. Even if e managed to reconcile with Annabeth again, things would not be the same.

Just what was this coffin-shaped box? Why was it showing him this prized memory? Was it taunting him, showing him the things he could not have anymore?

"It's the Memorial," a sharp voice cut through the room, "It shows the precious memories of the one who touches it."

Percy's blood immediately ran cold at the voice. It was a voice he knew well. A voice he could never forget. That voice from that pit where he and Annabeth had been damned to...

"Tartarus," he breathed out, feeling sweat gathering on his forehead. He did not dare turn around. He did not want to see him.

He could almost feel Tartarus's smile piercing through him. "Well done, you remembered who I am."

Of course he did. How could he ever forget? Tartarus had been the first to show Percy what true fear was like.

"Where am I?" Percy asked, although he knew he would not like the answer one bit.

Again, he felt as if Tartarus was stabbing him with his smile. "Why, you're at the Shrine of Nyx, of course."

* * *

 **I am so sorry I took so long to update this. I really can't apologize enough. I hope you guys liked this chapter. I will try to update as soon as possible. Leave a review. Until next time ;)**


	26. Chapter 24

**Uh, hi? I know it's been a while. I was having writer's block. But I'm back now and ready to continue this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please give me reviews because that's what encourages me to go on. Right, enough talk. Time for some action.  
**

* * *

Chapter 24

 _ **Outskirts of Tartarus**_

Leo was starting to get rather bored. The five of them, the Percy Rescue Team, had walked quite a bit from the Shrine of Nyx, searching for an entrance to Tartarus. Normally, that was not an act one would ever even think of doing, but then again, one would never even think of kidnapping a Primordial either. Especially one who controlled misery and poison.

But that was exactly the task that the five heroes were trying to do right now. Or at least, four of them were doing their job, while Leo was walking around aimlessly. He was trying to focus, he really was, but all sorts of unnecessary things were popping into his head every time he tried to think of something useful. Was there a god who controlled this sort of thing? If so, then he must really have had a grudge against Leo.

Thoughts of Festus and Calypso invaded his head. Oh why, why had he forgotten to bring his beloved mechanical dragon with him? Surely the dragon could offer him comfort and aid him in the quest. But of course, the Fates were cruel. They had made sure Leo remembered absolutely nothing of Festus until they were well into their journey, to the point where returning was not an option.

Or at least, that's what Leo liked to think. It was much easier to blame the Fates than to own up to his own ignorance.

And then there was Calypso. God, he missed her so much. At this point, he would give anything just to get a glimpse of her. heck, he would even willingly let her punch him, and he was telling you, those punches hurt. Her caramel hair that smelled like cinnamon, her almond-shaped eyes, and her amazing smile. Leo was almost wishing he had never come on this quest.

But then another thought occurred to him. Was this what Annabeth had been feeling for the past five years? If so, then Leo could not even begin to fathom how hard it must be for her. How could she handle it? Annabeth was strong, Leo had always known. But now, he had no doubt about just how strong she was. To be able to keep herself together even after all this, she was definitely a strong person.

Thinking about this, Leo felt rather ashamed. He was nothing when compared to her. Sure, he could produce fire and crack a few jokes, but then what? He didn't possess any of Annabeth's wits or her strength of mind to keep going even in dire situations like these.

Leo made his decision. He would not back down. He would see it through to the end, and he would make sure to find Percy, even if it was just for Annabeth's sake. He had always admired Annabeth and she was one of his dearest friends. It was the least he could do for her.

And Percy too, of course. Percy was an amazing guy, and whoever said so otherwise deserved to be decked in the face. Percy had been the only person who did not beat the shit out of him when he returned back from the dead. He had been understanding, and he had cleared every lingering tension that had been between then regarding Calypso, and he was really grateful for that. The least he could do was save him from Crazy Lady Nyx and reunite him with his girlfriend.

Reinvigorated with these thoughts, Leo focused on the job at hand. Right, what were they doing again? Oh yes, trying to capture a crazy old Primordial from Tartarus who could probably kill them with a stroke of her finger. OK, no sweat. Easy peasy.

Then suddenly, as if Athena had suddenly blessed Leo on a whim, a brilliant idea came to his mind. It was totally crazy and insane, yes, but brilliant nonetheless. It had to have at least 0.04% chance of working. At that point, they were all so desperate that anything which had even the remotest chance of working was acceptable by them.

Leo gathered up all the others to tell them about his crazily brilliant plan. Or was it brilliantly crazy? Oh whatever, that was not the point. The point was, Leo told the others about his plan, and they did not seem to think that it was brilliant at all. Why, though, Leo could not understand. It seemed perfectly fine to him.

"Leo," started Piper, her eyebrow twitching. It was a sign that he was not going to like what she was about to say next. "You're suggesting that instead of finding her ourselves, we should make Akhlys find us? Dude, are you crazy? You want to call a batshit crazy Primordial to us? Don't you know that then we'll have to play host, preventing us from attacking while she gets every opportunity to turn us into demigod roast? Are you serious?"

Well, Leo had to admit that the plan did sound a little impossible. But still, he felt the need to defend his plan.

"Well, the host rules only apply when we're in a building or something like that, right? We're in open space now so that doesn't apply. It's worth a try. It could save us the trouble of going to Tartarus."

Piper was about to argue back but Annabeth stopped her. Annabeth's lips were pursed, her eyebrows cringed and eyes looked glassy. Clear signs that a plan was developing in her head. Everyone stood waiting for her to say something, but she did not open her mouth. Just when Leo was about to speak out of impatience, Annabeth spoke up.

"I think... I think Leo's plan could actually work. If we could just figure out how to lure her out..." Annabeth paused. She seemed to consider something for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, no, the plan I'm thinking of is too dangerous. And stupid. We could all get killed."

"Come one, Annabeth, tell us," Grover urged, "If I've learned one thing from having been Percy's best friend for all these years, it's that sometimes, stupid and dangerous plans are the only things that can save you. And besides, you've always said those same things about Percy's plans, and have they ever disappointed?"

Annabeth pursed her lips again. "You have a point," she finally conceded, "I was thinking that, well, since Akhlys is the Protogenos of misery, it might possibly be the only thing she could be attracted to. So maybe... maybe if we had a way to channel misery... then..."

Just then, something clicked in Leo's head. "The Valdezinator!" He yelled out. Of course, that was what they needed. The Valdezinator, which Leo had accidentally created, could translate feelings into music. Surely it could also translate misery. Only problem, it was with Apollo.

"Are you sure, man?" asked Jason. "Didn't you, like, give it to Apollo? How are we supposed to use it?"

"I'm sure I could make it again..." Leo mumbled, his hands already pulling out all sorts of stuff from his tool-belt. He could do it. He knew he could do it. He pulled out different things, some of which he didn't even recognize, and started working on a replica of the Valdezinator. Before long, the instrument was completed.

"Here!" said Leo, his face rather flushed from working too much so quickly. "But who's gonna play it?" They all had their fair share of misery, after all.

"Me." Annabeth's voice, though soft and barely above a whisper, drifted through the wind in a chilling way. And suddenly, Leo felt extremely guilty. Obviously Annabeth was suffering the most out of them. He really could not compare. And although he knew that he didn't have a hand in this, he could not help but feel really, really guilty when he slowly handed the Valdezinator to her.

Annabeth's hands shook as she took it. She inhaled a deep breath, before starting to play.

* * *

 **I am inexplicably sorry for the short chapter, but I'm still trying to pick things up. Thank you for understanding.**


	27. Chapter 25

**Uhh.. Hi? I am so, so, so sorry for the long wait, and I really can't offer any new excuse. Laziness, school, exams, writer's block, blah, blah, blah. Right, I won't bore you anymore. Let's just get to the story.**

* * *

Chapter 25

 _ **Somewhere in Tartarus**_

Akhlys was in a particularly bad mood.

These days, everything in this hell hole was an absolute mess. Monsters running around everywhere, Tartarus being stupid and not even trying to stop them, Erebus leaving ominous texts for Tartarus at random places... it was all driving her nuts. To top it off, everyone here seemed to be _so damn happy_. And for the Primordial goddess of misery, that was not a very good thing at all.

She was hungry for misery. Other people's misery. Others' happiness only served to make her miserable, which was not very fun at all. Her power derived from it. If there wasn't misery around her, she was practically useless.

Of course, she knew that there were tons of miserable people out there. But that was just the thing. _Out there._ It was of no use to her if it couldn't even reach her.

Akhlys moped, because that was pretty much all she could do at this point. Mope and sulk and drown in her own misery.

 _Drown in her own misery..._

Now that brought back memories, didn't it? Akhlys let out an involuntary shudder at the thought. She remembered it. Remembered it all too well. remembered that horrid, horrid demigod. Remembered how he had absolute control over her domain, how he could _overpower_ in her own domain. Remembered how he almost drowned her in her own poison.

 _Percy Jackson..._

She loathed the name with all her might.

As Akhlys thought about Percy Jackson, she felt miserable all over again. But with that misery, also came power. Her power grew and grew and it was starting to get out of control. Her soulless eyes glowed an unearthly grey, and she let out an anguished cry.

Just then, as if on cue, a soft, melodious sound floated through the wind and reached her ears. It was a mournful song, a miserable song. A song that spoke of misery far greater than her own imagination, of unspoken hardships and burdens and losses. As it continued, the soft sound grew more and more reckless and sinister, the earlier melody gone, replaced with an almost vengeful hunger. It grew more and more sinister by every note.

Akhlys felt a shiver down her spine. This music, it was unlike any she had heard before. Filled with so much misery, she could practically feel the singer's misery pulsating through her every fiber. It reinvigorated her. Rejuvenated her. Reminded her of exactly what her domain was, and why she was the goddess of it.

 _Ah... I wonder who sings of this unspeakable misery..._ She wanted to know. She needed to know. She needed to find whoever it was.

Little did she know, she would come to regret this decision later on.

* * *

 _ **The Shrine of Nyx**_

Percy stared at Tartarus with a blank expression.

He felt angry, irritated and a lot of other things at the same time, but he did not feel scared. He remembered the first time he had met Tartarus, he had felt an inexplicable fear, one greater than any other. But this time, he felt nothing of that sort. having lived with Nyx for five years, there was little that could scare him anymore. This time, he just felt anger.

"What do you want?" He said through gritted teeth. His grip on Riptide tightened. He knew that Tartarus would not be here without any reason. Tartarus was smart, he definitely wanted something from him.

"Ah, you would me so, Percy Jackson? Why must you think that I have an ulterior motive for wanting to meet you?" Tartarus said in an overly dramatic way, using exaggerated hand gestures. There was a smirk on his face that put Percy on edge.

But there was no way Percy was going to let anyone outdo him when it came to sassy remarks, especially not his sworn enemy.

"Who said anything about ulterior motives?" Percy retorted, swinging Riptide into a more comfortable fighting stance. He saw Tartarus's composure break for a split second, and he smirked. Good, he had won this round.

"Tch," said Tartarus,"Well, you're not wrong. I," he paused for dramatic effect, making Percy roll his eyes, "have a proposal for you."

That immediately sent Percy on edge. Getting any proposals from your enemy was never a good thing. The either wanted you to join them, or die.

"Well, let's hear it then," said Percy, trying to stall for time. He might not have been as smart as Annabeth, but he knew it would not be wise to engage Tartarus in combat.

Tartarus smiled, and Percy felt his hair hand on end. "It's a simple request, actually. I want you to join me."

Ah, so the former then.

"No," Percy said immediately, leaving no room for argument. How could Tartarus even think that he would ever betray Olympus and join him? He was loyal to his core. And besides, why would Tartarus try to recruit him anyway? Since even the Primordial gods perceived him as a threat, wouldn't it make more sense for them to want him dead?

Despite Percy's blatant refusal, Tartarus still persisted. "At least think about it, Percy Jackson. Think about all the-"

"No!" Percy said again, cutting him off. Tartarus was starting to piss him off now. "Why the Hades would you want me to join you, anyway? Don't Erebus and Nyx want me dead?"

Tartarus pursed his lips and crinkle his eyebrows. "Please refrain from using a god's name in here. It's in poor taste. And as for your question, those two are fools," he waved his hand in dismissal, "By thinking of you as too much of a threat, they forget just how valuable of an ally you could be. I, though, am not stupid like them, I know that you could serve me so much better as an ally."

"Zero, zip, zilch, nada," Percy clipped, "Just forget about it. My answer's still the same."

Tartarus gave him a disappointed look. "I'm giving you one last chance to reconsider, Jackson. You're making a wrong decision."

"I decide whether my decision is right or wrong," Percy retorted, " 't. Join. You."

Tartarus sighed. "Well, you've made your choice. Too bad it was the wrong one."

And then, without any warning, Tartarus suddenly lashed out at Percy. Percy's eyes widened, and he only had enough time to raise Riptide and block Tartarus's attack. Tartarus let out a maniacal cackle, and proceeded to attack once again. He was so fast that Percy could hardly track his movements, an each of his blows were harder than any Percy had faced before.

 _Shit! He's too damn fast!_

"Don't get carried away, Jackson!" Tartarus bellowed, followed by another laugh that would put any mad scientist to shame. He then gave a strong right uppercut. Percy saw it coming. he saw it coming so clearly, as if time had slowed down for him, and yet- and yet, he wasn't fast enough to dodge it. Tartarus's fist connected with his jaw, and the next moment, he was on the ground, pushed against the wall, with a searing pain that was slowly traveling to his brain.

 _What the-_

His mind could not even begin to process what had just transpired.

He watched as Tartarus slowly- agonizingly slowly- grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled his face up to meet Tartarus's eyes. Tartarus's eyes were a blood red, filled with an indescribable madness. And at that moment, Percy knew. He knew that shit had just hit the fan.

 _The battle's begun._

* * *

 **Ah, why do I torture myself so by dragging things out so much? Anyways, Annabeth and Percy are like, just a door away. Percy's inside the Shrine and Annabeth's outside. Seriously, just meet already and get things over with. I can't believe I still haven't gotten to the plot twist... Oops, I just revealed some spoilers. Anyways, follow, fav and review. Until next time ;)**


	28. Chapter 26

**Uhh... hello? Please don't kill me! I know, I know I'm a horrible person but I swear I have a good reason this time! It's just that my final exams were going on and then my keyboard broke down and I don't know how to make time for anything. I am extremely sorry for the inconvenience. Please enjoy this chapter as an apology.**

* * *

Chapter 26

 _ **Alaska**_

Hazel was nervous. Very, very nervous. She had been tasked with tricking the guard so that the others could get in and find the underground passage leading to the prison. To say she felt burdened would be an understatement.

Hazel mentally slapped herself for having a weak resolve. Everyone was trying their hardest. They were counting on her to get them through. She could not let them down. She just needed to put up an act and distract the guard long enough to let Frank and the others through.

Taking a deep breath, she strode towards the guard, preparing herself.

"Hey, Mister!" she called out in a distressed voice, "Can you- can you please help me?"

The guard, who had been taking a nap on duty all this time, startled awake. Looking around, his eyes finally landed on Hazel. He eyed her critically, taking in her appearance. It seemed to Hazel as if it was a lifetime before he finally got up and made his way towards her, nodding as if he had determined that she was not a threat but just some damsel in distress.

 _Oh, just you wait and see..._

"Yes, Miss, can I help you?" the guard asked. Though his words were polite enough, his tone was anything but. He didn't even bother to hide his annoyance, which, in turn, annoyed Hazel.

But she had the presence of mind to not let her annoyance show. Putting on a distressed face(which wasn't too hard, because she was already feeling quite distressed as it was), Hazel spoke in an overly dramatic way, "My purse was just stolen by a burglar! Please, Mister, you have to help me. There were lots of precious things in there. If it's stolen- if it's stolen- i don't know what I'm gonna do!"

Hazel mentally patted herself on the back for saying the whole dialogue without cringing even once. If Percy or Leo were to ever hear that she said something as cheesy and cliche as that, they would never let her live it down. They would probably do some mock impression of it and then pretend to vomit. The thought almost made her smile, but she stopped herself just as she remembered she was supposed to play the part of a damsel in distress right now.

The guard was eyeing her skeptically. He clearly did not believe her in the slightest.

She really wished she had Piper's charmspeak right now.

"You a tourist?" The guard asked, but it sounded more like a statement. Nonetheless, Hazel still nodded in answer. "Figures why you'd be so careless as to let your purse get stolen in a place like this," said the guard.

"Well, excuse me for being trusting!" Hazel exclaimed in a fake offending voice. To be honest, though, if someone had come up to her saying the things she had just said, she would have been just as sympathetic as the guard.

She could just knock the man out right there. But there were too many witnesses. She could make the Mist make it seem like something else but she wouldn't be able to hold it for long. It was best to play it safe and lure him out to somewhere without any people, or at least any _good_ people, before getting rid of him.

"Please, just- just come and look for a second, will you? He went that way!" She pointed to an alley across the street. It was just the sort of alley where you would expect gang fights to take place, where drug dealers would hang out, where shady ass bars would be located. No one would bat an eyelash if a man were to be found unconscious in there.

The guard eyed the alley suspiciously. He clearly knew exactly what sort of dirty alley it was.

"I- I can pay you!"

Ah, that always worked. The guard gave right in and agreed to take a look in the alley.

Hazel wanted to scream in joy. But her work wasn't over yet. She led the guard to the dirty alley, hoping that the others would take this chance to sneak into the tower. She would also join them, right after knocking out the guard.

"Right, so where's your burglar, Miss?" The guard asked impatiently.

 _I'm really sorry for this._

The last thing which he saw before being knocked out cold was the fist colliding with his face.

* * *

 _ **Camp Jupiter**_

Thalia was feeling worried. For what, she wasn't exactly sure.

It had been quite a while since she and Reyna had arrived in camp Jupiter, and they hadn't been able to get in contact with Camp Half-Blood ever since. For some reason, Iris-messages were not working. For all they knew, Camp Half-Blood could be under attack right now and they had no way of knowing.

It was oddly peaceful here in Camp Jupiter. Which made her all the more worried. peace never lasted forever. It was just the calm before the storm.

All her hunter instincts were yelling at her to stay vigilant, and her instinct had never let her down.

She aimed, breathed, and shot. The arrow made a swooshing sound as it whisked through the air and hit her target. Bulls-eye.

The shooting range in Camp Jupiter was fairly nice, and it served as a relaxing pastime for her. She imagined each of the targets as her enemies and shot, and every time it hit the target, she felt a temporary sense of satisfaction.

Gwen was also in the shooting range with her. She wasn't very good but Thalia had seen Percy shoot, and anyone was a better archery partner. The two of them weren't talking, just shooting randomly, with Thalia exchanging tips here and there.

It was peaceful.

But no sooner had she thought of those words, something exploded in the distance. The sound of the explosion reverberated through the whole camp, loud and deafening. It was soon followed by multiple cannon shots. Within a second, the place was covered with smoke and fumes, with people running everywhere, trying to get their hands on any weapon possible.

Before she knew it, Thalia was in the middle of a battlefield.

Thalia readied her bow and arrow and shot the first monster in her sight. A grin spread itself across her face as she felt the familiar exhilaration that came along with fighting. She relished the feeling. As a Hunter, it was what she lived for, really.

She shot monster after monster, and Gwen did the same beside her. Occasionally, she summoned lightning to finish them off. At some point in the fight, Reyna joined up with her, furiously slashing away at every monster with daggers, with Aurum and Argentum at her heels.

Eventually, the smoke dispersed and the number of monsters lessened. They slowed down to catch a breath.

"Why do you think-" Reyna started-

Thalia heard the sound before she saw it-

She pushed Reyna and Gwen out of the way-

An arrow sizzled past just where their necks had been a moment ago.

A lady was standing in the distance. Long hair that seemed to be changing color every second, eyes that Thalia could not really determine the color or shape of, even her body seemed to be changing shape every microsecond. Just looking at her was draining all the energy out of her. It was messing up her memory. Her head was starting to spin a little. Wait, was it the lady's head spinning, or was it her own?

A disappointed sigh. "Aww, just when I thought I got in a good shot, you had to evade it."

It was hard to concentrate. What was she saying? What was going on?

 _Where am I?_

A whistle. "Such skil... fi..ters you are... to be abl.. to t..ke out my m..ni..ns li..e t-at..."

 _What are you saying?_

 _Who are you?_

"Oh r..gt, w...re are my ma..ners! I di..n't even in..rod..ce m..elf!"

 _Who are you?_

"I'm Mn...syne, the Ti...ess of Me...ry."

 _Who are you..._

 _..._

 _...Who am I?_

* * *

 **Right, sooo... I'm sorry again for the really late update. I promise to try to be punctual from now on.**


	29. Chapter 27

**My** **advice** **to you for this fic: Trust no one. Including me. Especially me. Especially when it comes to updates.  
**

* * *

Chapter 27

 _ **The Shrine of Nyx**_

"...You know, Jackson, I rather like you. Not everyone has the guts to stand up to me like you do. So, I'm gonna give you another chance. Join me," Tartarus leaned closer and whispered into his ears, "Or die."

Percy felt shivers run down his spine. There it was. That fear he had felt back when he had first met Tartarus. Of all times, it had to come back now. Right now, when he needed to be the strongest. He needed to get up, beat the Hades out of Tartarus, and find a way to get as far away from this place- wherever it was- as possible, but no, of course his body was frozen in fear and wouldn't obey a thing that he told it to do.

 _Thanks a lot, body._

Luckily, he still retained that snark despite feeling like a Giant-sized rock with 'FEAR' painted across it had just been dropped onto his shoulders. His innate ability to piss off any and all Immortal sometimes did come in handy in buying him time. And right now, that's exactly what he needed, since his body was just as stubborn as he was and refused to move.

"Not that again, Tartarus. That's like, the most cliche line I've heard in my entire life! Don't you think that's getting a little old?" _Please, please, please just move away and get the Hades away from me, goddammit, there's this thing called personal space, thankyouverymuch,_ was what he was screaming in his mind and he hoped Tartarus got the message and decided to be a gentleman and complied.

Of course, no such luck. _Dammit, Tyche, Fortuna, and whatever deity out there who resides over luck. Why can't you just have pity on me for once and let me live a happy life? What have I done to have been subjected to thy eternal wrath?_ See, he knew big words too.

Instead of getting away from Percy's personal space, Tartarus just laughed, which soon turned into sneering. "You still haven't given me an answer, Perseus Jackson."

"Tartarus, it doesn't matter if you ask me once or twice or a thousand times, my answer will not change. I'll never join the likes of you." And just for good measure, he even spit on Tartarus's clothes, partly marveling at the fact that his body had decided to obey him for once, and mostly hoping that Tartarus didn't disintegrate him on the spot.

Tartarus did not disintegrate him on the spot. Though his expression suggested that his patience was running thin and he was abut to do that in a matter of seconds.

But Percy saw it. A crack in his exterior. Just for a fraction of a second, he saw Tartarus let his guard down in shock. It was just a fraction of a second, but that was all it took for Percy to take advantage of the situation and turn the tables around. Faster than the eye could see, Percy whipped out Riptide, which had returned to his pocket, and slashed.

At that moment, a lot of things happened at once.

Firstly, his strike actually hit Tartarus, though nowhere fatal, and he hissed in pain, moving away from Percy, allowing him to get up, only for the place to suddenly start shaking, not like an earthquake, but more like how a person shakes when they cry. All of a sudden, a mountain debris just magically appeared from and the ceiling and very conveniently fell on his head. Percy saw it all happen, in movie-style slow-motion.

That's when the second thing happened. Tartarus got up, howling and spitting fire, ready to charge at him, but was stopped when a golden net suddenly appeared out of the blue and was draped over his head. For a moment, this was so surprising that Percy's eyes widened and he nearly forgot that a bunch of debris was about to fall on top of his head.

And then he heard the sound. The loud, thunderous sound that reverberated through the walls and almost gave him a migraine, a sound that even had Zeus's dramatic entrances beat. He heard it loud and clear and very annoyed, and it momentarily threw him off. He lost his balance, and it occurred to him that he would not be able to get out of this one. The debris would hit him all at once and the great hero Percy Jackson would meet his end.

 _Dammit this is not how I wanted to die! Percy Jackson, died by getting magically hit on the head by a bunch of garbage because of his own stupidity! Ha ha, this is a running joke now, right?_

The debris was closer. It was going to hit him. Percy supposed this was the time where he was supposed to relive his past and get all the flashbacks, but strangely, nothing like that happened. It anything, he was calm. Almost unnervingly calm. For someone who was probably going to die within the next millisecond, his thoughts were surprisingly clear.

 _I won't die! I'll live and I'll grow old with Annabeth! You can't take that away from me!_

"I won't die!" He shouted, as loud as he could. The debris was close, it was going to hit, why was it taking so long anyway? "I won't die, you hear me?1 I won't die!"

He yelled and yelled the same thing over and over again, until his throat was raw and he couldn't possibly continue, until every word he said rang true in his every bone.

He vaguely registered some sounds at the back of his head. People, maybe. He wasn't sure. The debris was so close, yet it didn't seem to be falling. Why was it not falling? It might as well.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw blonde. Just as gravity seemed to start working once again and debris fell on him all at once, turning his world black.

* * *

 _ **A few minutes earlier, outside the Shrine of Nyx**_

Annabeth's plan was in motion.

They had managed to successfully lure out Akhlys, and had trapped her in Hephaestus's golden net, reformed and updated by Leo, along with special charms from everyone else. It had not been easy, but they had managed to get Akhlys to agree to let them enter the shrine, since Annabeth's melancholy had apparently been very sweet and satisfactory.

Annabeth thanked every god out there for the fact that Akhlys was not really in any sides in the war. Because if she had been on Tartarus and Erebus's side, no amount of Annabeth's melancholy would have convinced her to let them in. It had all been pure chance, really. Annabeth was not one to take risks but for Percy, she was willing to do anything.

 _No, you aren't_ , a voice spoke at the back of her mind just as she and the others were preparing to get in. It sounded like herself, yet quite not herself at the same time. Annabeth shook her head. She must have been having an auditory hallucination. The nerves were getting to her.

 _You know that's not true._ That same voice. It was back again. Annabeth shook her head to relieve herself. there was no point in getting paranoid now, she had already come this far. Besides, it was probably just the nerves. Because there was absolutely no way that something in her head, in her own voice, would ever insinuate that she was not willing to do everything for Percy. Right?

The voice did not speak again. Annabeth and her team carried on. Akhlys performed some weird ritual (while still trapped in the net), and beckoned them to go forward after she was finished.

They let her out before entering the shrine. All of them were cautious and expecting the worst, so when they stepped into the shrine and it started shaking and rumbling, none of them even batted an eyelash. But still, it was uncomfortable, dreadful, because it clearly showed that the place was about to collapse, and reminded them of how less time they actually had to successfully rescue Percy.

Beyond the rumbling of the shrine, Annabeth heard an agonized hiss. Immediately, all of them were hyper aware of where the sound had come from. Stepping around cautiously, they tried to pinpoint the source of the scream, but they just ended up going in circles. Hades, this place was worse than the Labyrinth!

But then they heard another scream. It was not one of agony, but one of declaration. And it belonged to a voice which all of them knew all too well. A loud and clear 'I won't die' echoed around the place in Percy Jackson's voice, and it echoed in Annabeth's heart, and somehow, she knew exactly where to go.

She ran ahead of the others, eager and desperate to find the source of that voice. Percy was the only thing she could think of, and that was not really very hard, because it was like that all the time. She heard his voice again, in the same self-assured voice, yelling 'I won't die' and evry time it echoed around the walls, the more she found herself believing it.

 _Percy's alive, Percy's alive, Percy's alive and he'll be_ mine _again._

 _Except, you wish he were dead._

That last thought made her stop in her tracks as her blood ran cold. That thought hadn't belonged to her. that was not a thought Annabeth could ever, ever have, even in her scariest nightmares. That wasn't her.

Except that voice had clearly been her own, the same from before, and it was rooted in her head, and she was rooted in her spot. She couldn't move from the corridor, the other's hadn't caught up to her yet. She was frozen in her place, by an unknown fear that was slowly starting to take form in her gut. that voice, what was it? Who was it? Why was it telling her that she wanted Percy to die?

Annabeth didn't know. She did not like not knowing.

 _Accept it. You don't really want him alive, do you. He caused you so much pain... You just want him to feel the same as you did, don't you?_

No. No, she didn't. It wasn't Percy's fault that he got kidnapped. She would never want any harm done to him. Right? _Right?_

It was only too late that she entered the room, only to see a bunch of debris

Falling

Slowly

Slowly

On

Her

Beloved

 _ **Percy.**_

 _NO!_

 _YES._

* * *

 **I am so sorry please kill me no don't i still want to finish the story. You will get a happy ending, I swear, but it's just... there'll be a lot of angst along the way. Until next time ;)**


	30. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

* * *

 _ **Camp Jupiter**_

She could not think.

And it wasn't just the kind of thing that happened when you were in the middle of battle, when you were too overwhelmed to actually think of what to do next. Aside from the fact that she was a seasoned fighter and there was no possibility of those sort of things ever happening to her in the first place, it was still a completely different sort of thing that she was experiencing right now. She was _literally_ drawing a blank at _everything_. Like where she was, what she was doing, who those people around her were, who that woman in front of her was.

Who she was.

She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what her goddamn name was, or how old she was, or what she did. Everything was a blank slate, and it was like someone had erased each one of her memories.

She was tempted to look around, but something told her that it would be a bad idea to look away from the woman before her. Some sort of instinct that could not be explained. _N_ _ever turn your back to enemy._ Where had she learned that? She couldn't remember.

Her hands clutched at the daggers in her hands. Why was she holding daggers? It was clear to her that they were in the middle of some kind of battlefield, but why was _she_ holding daggers? She didn't know to wield them. She wasn't _supposed_ to know to how to wield them.

But something told her that she did now how to wield them. Something she couldn't explain. Something just in her reach yet so, so far.

Some innate feeling told her that the woman before her was dangerous, and she was the reason why she couldn't remember anything. And it was this gut feeling that influenced her to do the _dumb, dumb, stupid_ thing that she did next.

She charged. Alone, leaving her comrades (she assumed) who seemed to be in a similar state of confusion as her behind in the dust, she charged forward in a speed she herself didn't know was possible, intending to strike the woman's head, for something told her that would be the solution to her memory loss problem.

It was clearly a _terrible, horrible, no good, very bad_ idea that had _no planning whatsoever_ , but she decided to throw caution into the wind for once and followed her gut feeling, praying with all her might to every Roman and Greek deity out there ( why did she pray to _Roman and Greek_ deities, though? Another mystery) that it didn't cost her life. She didn't want to die without ever knowing how she lived.

But that woman with the ever changing hair color proved to be apathetic to her inner turmoil (not that she knew of it, anyways), because she decided to take out a giant halberd out of nowhere within a split second, and gave a swift swing clearly aimed at her neck. If it wasn't for an arrow suddenly intervening, she would have been chopped in half.

She risked turning around to see who had shot the arrow. It was one of the two girls who had been beside her. She seemed familiar, but where exactly had she seen those electric blue eyes and black hair before? She did not have time to ponder, as the woman swung her halberd again, before throwing it at the blue-eyed girl, aiming the spear end directly at her chest.

The Blue-eyed girl's eyes widened, and she wasted no time in returning the favor, dashing at an almost god-like speed, she swerved at the very last moment, positioning herself in front of the girls about to be hit, and deflected the spear of the halberd, with her twin daggers. Two automaton dogs, one gold and one silver, suddenly jumped out from the pile of debris a little distance away, and joined her at her feet. She couldn't remember who they were but she felt like they were trustworthy.

The halberd-wielding woman tch'ed. "Dammit. Even when all memories are erased, muscle memory still stays. How troublesome."

So she was right. That woman was the one who had erased her memories.

"Don't... Don't think that your petty tricks are gonna work on me, Mnemosyne!" The blue-eyed girl shouted, "It might have worked the first could seconds but I've figured you out. I'm a huntress of Artemis, dammit! I'm an immortal too, if you've forgotten. You haven't really erased anyone's memories, you've just put a lock on them. With... with an external object." The huntress struggled, trying to look at something on the woman's, no _Mnemosyne_ 's, head. "And that object is... is..."

"Her headpiece," She finished for the girl. Now that she was looking carefully, she herself could realize it. Whenever, she tried to look carefully at that headpiece, her mind got all messed up. It was the object that was preventing her from accessing her memories.

She looked into the eyes of the huntress, and some sort of understanding passed between them. Instantly, they got to work, like two sides of the same coin. The huntress drew three arrows and readied them, while she picked up a spear lying on the ground. Mnemosyne watched, seeming rather bored and not at all threatened. Good, she was underestimating them.

As soon as she gave the signal, a barely noticeable tilt of the head, the huntress shot the three arrows at the same time, and as they whisked through the air, Mnemosyne moved to dodge. As soon as the Titaness was distracted by the arrows, she made her move. Summoning all her strength, she hauled the spear over her head and threw it, aiming at Mnemosyne's headpiece.

 _Bullseye,_ she smirked as the spear hit the headpiece, and Mnemosyne did not even have any time to be surprised before it toppled over and fell, breaking into half.

Immediately, her mind begun to clear, and her memories slowly started to return. The fog that had been clouding her mind all this time started to clear and she could finally remember who she was. She was Reyna, the Praetor of the 12th Legion, and the huntress beside her was Thalia Grace, the sister of her ex-colleague Jason. Behind them was Gwen, one of her closest friends.

"It sure is good to be back, huh, Reyna?" Thalia was grinning now. And Reyna found herself mirroring it.

"I've been better but, this is certainly more preferable than not even remembering my name."

Mnemosyne had recovered from her shock by now. And to say she was furious would be the understatement of the century. "Foolish mortals! Do you know what you have done?! I will make you regret this!"

She raised her halberd to strike, and they braced themselves, but at the last moment, Mnemosyne stopped. A weird look came to her face and she seemed to be physically struggling to attack.

"What do you mean retreat?! I can't possibly retreat! I will crush these demigods!" Mnemosyne suddenly shouted out. Reyna and Thalia exchanged equally confused looks. Was someone else ordering her to retreat? If so, then who?

"Ugh, fine! But this better be worth it, though. Or I will have your head!"

With one last frustrated cry, Mnemosyne and her halberd disappeared into thin air, leaving behind the two broken halves of her headpiece, and two very confused demigods. Just exactly who was Mnemosyne working with?

Thalia grunted, staring at the space where Mnemosyne had been just a moment earlier. "Looks like we need to pay the other camp a visit. It's been long overdue, anyways."

* * *

 _ **Camp Half-Blood**_

Rachel's head hurt.

It had been hurting all day long, and not just as in a mild headache, but rather like a mind-numbing, crushing headache, as if someone was pounding her head with Thor's freaking hammer Mjolnir. Rachel knew Norse gods also existed, and if possible, she wanted to meet them one day, especially to see whether Thor really was like he was portrayed in the movies.

But as it was now, Rachel would never get to fulfill that dream because she was about die of the headache first.

She had taken a rest from treating the injured and retreated back into her cave. She thought that the quiet atmosphere would help to lessen the headache but it had only made it all the more deafening.

Images flashed into her head. Most of them were just meaningless gibberish which she could not make any sense of, but there was a certain one that kept playing in her head over and over again.

She was in a dark room, with only a mirror. Standing in front the mirror was her good friend Annabeth, all pretty and dolled-up. Her blond hair was in tight princess curls, and she wore a wine red gown that reached her ankles. Gold and silver jewellery adorned her neck and wrists, and her lips were painted a deep red color. The grey of her eyes were stormy as always, but they seemed scarily empty, devoid of any and all emotion.

Rachel shuddered. the hostile aura radiating from her was stronger than any she had ever felt.

Rachel gingerly stepped forward so the she could look into the mirror. To her surprise, Annabeth's reflection was completely different from the Annabeth that was standing before the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were torn and bloody. Her hands and feet were shackled, and her lips were swollen and bleeding. But Her eyes conveyed so much emotion that it was almost overwhelming. Haunting, regretful, pleading.

She was mouthing something over and over again, and it took Rachel some time to understand that the word she was mouthing was 'Percy'. Rachel's gut twisted as she noticed something that she held in her hand: a locket with Percy's name engraved on it, and it was covered with blood.

The polished and pristine Annabeth in front of the mirror also held a similar locket in her hands, except it was clean and newly polished. Rachel watched as she brought it up, holding it in front of the Annabeth in the mirror. And what she did next was something that would give Rachel nightmares for weeks.

She crushed it in her bare hands, her long and manicured nails, also painted that pretty red which Rachel was only now recognizing as _blood_ , dug into the metal, and the sound echoed within her very soul,

bone-breaking,

heart-wrenching,

soul-crushing,

and the blood that poured out, though it should have been impossible, resembling the one in the hand of the Annabeth in the mirror, whose eyes widened so much that it hurt to even watch,

like that never-ending _red_ which dripped onto the ground,

 _tip_

tap

 _tip_

tap

 _tImE'S uP_

Rachel could not bear to watch anymore. This... This was not right. This was the Annabeth that she knew. What was going on? Percy... was he really...? No, she refused to believe it. Annabeth wouldn't... she would never...

 _You've been referring to me as **Annabeth** for quite some time now. Didn't I just say-_

The image blurred. The mirror shattered. the pounding in her head intensified.

 _-time's up?_

And in the next second, everything was gone, replaced with the sight of the walls of her cave. Rachel returned to reality screaming. It took several minutes for her to calm down, to even register that the pounding in her head was now gone. It was all too much and too little at the same time. She was suffocating. There was _too_ _much_ air, yet she couldn't breathe.

After several deep forced breaths, she found herself regaining her sense of reality. But she still couldn't figure what that vision had been about. Her memory of it was already starting to blur.

Just what the _Hades_ was going on?

* * *

 **I am so sorry for not updating. But like I said, don't trust me regarding updates.**

 **Until next time ;)**


	31. Chapter 29

**Yes, it is I, back from the temporary black abyss that is known as writer's block(not really, it was just exams and then I was out of country). But whatever, let's just get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 29

 _ **Alaska**_

Nico tried really, really hard to not curse.

Aside from the obvious fact that it was in bad taste for him to curse since the most common cursing method for demigods involved his father's name, Hazel had not shown up yet. Hazel had been supposed to have shown up at least ten minutes ago by now, but there was absolutely no sight of her, and if Nico was being perfectly honest, he was getting tired of Frank's constant pacing and Lou's angry muttering.

The three of them were stuck at a dead end, and while Nico could perfectly understand the others' reactions, that did not mean he had to like it. Yes, Hazel was taking a little longer to show up than expected. But did that mean Frank needed to be practically stomping the ground in a childish tantrum? No. Yes, Lou's prediction of the underground tunnel leading to Thanatos's prison turned out to be a miscalculation. Did that give her any right to be making him even more irritated by muttering nonsense under her breath? Absolutely not.

"Chaos, would you two just...stay...quiet!" He didn't mean to yell, he really didn't, but his patience was running thin here, and dammit he was just as worried about hazel as Frank.

But when Frank stopped and a look of absolute worry and longing came over his face, Nico could not help feeling slightly guilty. He knew how much his sister meant to Frank, and he could not imagine what he would have done if Will had been in the same situation as Hazel. Probably run away and summon the undead and basically deal with it a whole lot worse than Frank. A bitter laugh threatened to escape his lips at the thought. Wow, he sure was a hypocrite, wasn't he?

Will Solace. He refused to think about Will now. That would not do him or anybody around him any good right now.

"How could this be a dead end? There's no way. I was sure-" Lou's muttering got cut off when a rainbow appeared right in front of her face. Startled, she leapt back and bumped into Nico, making them both fall to the ground.

Frank came up, looking concerned, but immediately got distracted when he saw who was on the iris message.

"Rachel!" He exclaimed, "What are you doing? How did you even manage to iris message? I thought they weren't working."

Rachel, Nico noticed after having disentangled himself from Lou, looked tired and distressed. Her hair was a mess, and he had bags underneath her eyes. She looked pathetic, like she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, but he found it even more pathetic that they could all relate to her state perfectly.

"I didn't think they were working either, but I had to try. I'm not entirely sure why it worked but that's not important. Listen, there's something really important I need to tell you. I had a premonition. Like, right now. And it was different from..." Rachel hesitated a bit, "Well, I saw something. There's a portal where Thanatos is being kept."

"Right, a portal. We know about that," Lou listed impatiently.

"You do?" Rachel did not seem particularly surprised and her words were more of a sentence than a question, but then surprise flitted through her face. "Wait, are you- are you Lou Ellen Blackstone? The one who's been thought dead for the past four years?!"

"Yup, that's me. Now, you were saying something about the portal?"

"Right..." Rachel gave Lou a look that suggested _'we'll get back to this later on'_. "Anyways, as I was saying, I saw the portal. I saw where the portal goes." She paused for a moment and bit her lip. "It goes to Percy."

Pin-drop silence followed her statement. Percy. That one word kept replaying in Nico's head over and over again.

Luckily, his teammates were much faster than him at recovery and started asking the important questions while he stood there gaping like a brain-dead zombie. ( _Nope, just a fish,_ Percy would have said.)

( _But Percy's not here, is he?_ )

( _But he could be._ )

"...don't know where the place is, just that Percy's there. I saw him. And I think there were others but I couldn't tell. It might have been his rescue team." Rachel finished. Nico hadn't realized that he had been spacing off, but he got the gist of what was being said.

Save Thanatos and get a Percy Jackson Bonus! Kill two birds with one stone! Don't miss this one in a life-time offer of earning the bonus round with maximum risk of potential death only! No money required! Offer valid till you or the bonus target dies in brutal ways!

Wow. Just wow.

But something else came to Nico's mind. "From. You said from. From what?"

Rachel frowned. "What are you talking about, Nico?"

"You said this premonition was different from something. But from what?" He narrowed his eyes when Rachel got extremely uncomfortable. "Rachel, have you been having other dreams or... prophecies?"

"Well, there was one prophecy. I told it to Chiron but he hasn't been able to make any sense of it yet. At least, not fully. It went like this:

 _A three-way feud among the Old_

 _Can only be stopped by a hero so bold,_

 _Who shall be rescued but not without cost,_

 _One key gained, another key lost._

 _The maiden of Artemis and the lady of Rome_

 _though with much trouble, shall return home._

 _Wanderers of the Shrine, beware the Night,_

 _The only way to win is to bring the truth to light._

That's it."

Nico paused and thought about it. "The hero's got to be Percy, right? 'Who shall be rescued but not without cost'. Unless there's some other hero we're trying to rescue, it's got to be him."

"'lady of Rome' has to be Reyna," Frank said, sounding a little sick. "But what about the maiden of Artemis? Artemis has got loads of maidens."

"It says 'The'. Got to be someone special then," Lou added, "If the lady of Rome is Reyna and she's Praetor, then the maiden of Artemis must also refer to the leader of the band, which means..."

"Thalia," Rachel concluded. "Come to think of it, they were both missing for a while, but we heard they returned to Camp Jupiter before connection got cut off. Since Iris message seems to be working again, I'll have to try to check in with them. Anyways, since they're here, does that mean that part of the prophecy has already been fulfiled?"

"Most probably," said Frank, "It also talks about a shrine. Any idea whose shrine it might be?"

"Night," exclaimed Nico, dread pooling in his stomach, "Holy Hades, how the fuck did I not make the connection before? It's the freaking Shrine of Nyx!"

All three gave him a confused look. "What's the Shrine of Nyx?"

"Just what it sounds like it is." Nico answered. "A shrine. You know, for Nyx. Mostly forgotten and completely useless, except for the tiny fact that it is mostly undetectable, is a worse maze than the labyrinth, and is home to the most grotesque ancient torture devices created by the the one and only Protogenos of Night herself."

"You said fact," Frank responded morosely, "There had to be at least three 'tiny facts' in there."

"How do you even know all of that if it's undetectable?"

"Tartarus. When I was in... there, I heard them talk. It's kind of a legend among monsters. Anyways, it says there are people wandering the shrine and warns them, so I'm assuming they're one of the good guys. One of us?"

"Undetectable." Lou mused, "You know, maybe that's where Percy Jackson is. There has got to be a reason why he could never be detected despite having sent search parties everywhere? Well, maybe that's where he is. Maybe Nyx or whoever abducted him."

"Actually, it's possible," Rachel said slowly, "Now that I think about it, it's the most likely option. And the wanderers, they could be Percy's rescue team! It would make sense of they were there to rescue Percy!"

"But 'one key gained, another key lost'. If the key gained is Percy, then..."

A heavy silence descended the room at Nico's words. It was uncomfortable and sticky and it made Nico want to twitch but stay still at the same time. Neither were sure what to say or do.

The uncomfortable silence was broken when a scream tore through the whole place, making Nico's blood run cold.

"Hazel."

The three of them immediately started running out of the tunnel, leaving Rachel's iris message behind. She yelled something to them, but neither could be bothered with responding. Finding Hazel was the priority right now.

They came out of the tunnel back the way they had come from. Lou pointed out that Hazel's scream had come from the left, so the three took off to the nearest pathway. Nico's heart was just about to beat out of his chest. Hazel was his sister. What if something had happened to her? He didn't think he could deal with losing another sister.

Thoughts of Bianca suddenly flashed to his mind. It had been a long time since he consciously thought about Bianca. It simply hurt too much. But as he thought about Bianca's death, his desire to rescue Hazel only grew stronger by the moment.

It did not take long for them to come to the end of that tunnel, and sure enough, Hazel was standing right there. Perfectly safe and sound, not a scratch on her.

Relief washed over Nico at the sight of Hazel unharmed, while Frank rushed ahead to pull her into a hug. But something did not sit right with Nico. He was glad and all that Hazel was okay, but he had the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong in here. Come to think of it, if Hazel was perfectly alright, why did she scream in the first place?

Lou stopped next to Nico. "Something's not right. Something's odd in here. Why can't I figure out what's odd in here?"

The end of the tunnel had lead way to a large circular room with barren walls, with no other escape route. There was an open-mouthed coffin-shaped box in the middle of the room, but other than that, it was completely empty.

"Hazel," Nico asked carefully, his feeling of dread going up, "Why did you scream? There's nothing here."

"That's just it!" Hazel said miserably, "There's nothing in there! Don't you see? _Thanatos_ is supposed to be here, but this place is. Freaking. Empty!"

Nico's face suddenly became paler, while Lou cursed. "Hades, that's it! That's what's wrong in here! According to the map, this is exactly where Thanatos was supposed to be kept, but he's not there, nothing's there!"

Nico's 'don't curse with my dad's name' died in his lips as the implications of that sentence sank in him.

"Wait, does that mean..." Frank started, hesitating.

"That Hecate has been leading us to the wrong fucking destination? That this was probably a damned trap all along? That she was probably leading us all to our deaths? That she's a fucking traitor?" Lou said bitterly. "Yeah, it probably does."

Hazel suddenly grabbed her weapon and steadied herself. "Guys, I don't think we're alone anymore."

Sure enough, Monsters were starting to climb out of the coffin in the room. And not just any monsters. It was the same one Nico and Annabeth had fought right before the quests had started. And they were just as grotesque and deadly as that one had been.

The once empty room suddenly filled up way too fast, and before they knew it, it had turned into a battlefield. It was a flurry of monster claws, swords, daggers and arrows. More and more monsters turned to dust, and as the number of deceased monsters increased, so did their exhaustion and battle wounds.

"They just keep coming!" Hazel shouted amidst the room, "We gotta get away from here!"

"Great idea!" Nico shouted back, "Except our only entrance and exit just freaking closed!"

Hazel turned around and cursed, because Nico was indeed right. The entrance to the tunnel that they had entered from was closed . Their one and only escape route had been cut off.

"Hey, look! Over there!" Frank shouted, pointing to a swirl of black and white that had appeared on the other end of the room. "Lou, remember you said we'd have to escape through a portal? I think that's it!"

"Well," Lou said, smiling slightly maniacally, "Only one way to be sure."

She stabbed the monster nearest to her before charging ahead at full speed. As soon she reached the portal, she took one last look at them, gestured with her hands to follow, and jumped in.

"Holy-" Nico stopped. What else could they do, anyways. The portal was their only option. He thought of Hecate. Did she really betray them? Was Thanatos even in Alaska to begin with? There was still a possibility that even thought Thanatos might not be here exactly, he could still be somewhere in Alaska.

"Frank, Hazel, go through the portal while I hold them off! I'll join you in a moment."

Hazel hesitated, but Frank shook his head. Biting her lip, she shouted back, "You better keep that promise!", before jumping out through the portal with Frank.

Good. Now that everyone was out of the way, Nico had no need to hold back. Summoning his army of undead, he finished off all the remaining monsters with relative ease, and then jumped through the portal himself.

Going through the portal was a weird feeling, somewhat like shadow traveling but also different at the same time. It was over soon, though, ad he found himself suddenly falling to the floor in an unknown room. An unknown room whose ceiling was about fall on top of his head.

His mind registered that hazel, Frank and Lou were all present, right beside him, but then he saw something that immediately took his mind off of that to something more important.

It might have been years since he last saw him, but there was no mistaking the jet black hair and piercing green eyes of his first crush. He was standing there, exhausted out of his skull, and-

A giant piece of debris was about to fall on Percy Jackson's head.

Nico's body moved on autopilot. He only vaguely heard Hazel's scream, and saw a blond figure on the other side of the room, presumably Annabeth, but only for a second. His only active thought was saving Percy.

He only managed to shadow travel next to Percy just a split second before the debris fell. He grabbed him -huh, did Percy lose weight? Has he been eating properly? Is he even okay?- and immediately shadow traveled back to where the others were.

Nico was running on pure adrenalin now. His shaky hands held Percy as tightly as possible, as if he would just disappear if he let go.

"Percy?" Hazel's voice was small and trembling as she spoke, holding out her hand gingerly, like she could not quite believe he was there. Percy'e eyes were closed, and he was only barely breathing. Unconscious, but still thankfully alive.

"A..abeth?" Percy mumbled under his breath, voice hitching slightly, as his body jerked up suddenly.

Nico could only hold him tighter as he tried to keep the tears from falling.

* * *

 **Aye, that just happened. Tell me what you think. Until next time ;)**


End file.
